


Learning Little Love

by professional_benaddict, sugar-and-spice-parker (WriterReadsStuff)



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adoption, Age Play, Ageplay, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Asthma, Auctions, Corporal Punishment, Crying, Daddy Kink, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Fluff, Human Trafficking, Hurt/Comfort, Littles Are Known, M/M, Malnutrition, Medical Conditions, Medical Examination, Peter has asthma, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:15:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 32,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25021516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/professional_benaddict/pseuds/professional_benaddict, https://archiveofourown.org/users/WriterReadsStuff/pseuds/sugar-and-spice-parker
Summary: An ageplay au where Littles are sold to caregivers with the most money. It’s a harsh and unloving system of Adoption Centers and auctions, and Peter is one of the Littles stuck at a Center, waiting to be adopted.But, perhaps there is some hope when the Stark-Stranges come looking for a Little to love and cherish forever?
Relationships: Peter Parker/Stephen Strange, Peter Parker/Tony Stark, Peter Parker/Tony Stark/Stephen Strange, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Comments: 231
Kudos: 710





	1. The First Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephen and Tony meet Peter for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hi hi! So I'm super excited for this collab I've done with Laney for the past few weeks. There are 8 parts and I'll be updating on Fridays. I hope you stick around and enjoy the ride, cause Laney and I sure did ;))
> 
> TW: check the tags  
> If you are a dedicated reader of my stuff, then just keep in mind that this verse is a bit darker than my average ageplay au. But, the ending is a happy one, that we can guarantee xx
> 
> \- Rafni

The sheer amount of paperwork was already giving Tony a headache. In addition, the watered down and bitter coffee they had been served by the social workers at the adoption center was just making his mood even worse. But, like always, his husband Stephen grounded him. 

“What’s your annual income again?” The doctor asked, looking up from where he was filling in his and Tony’s paperwork. Meanwhile, Tony had been working on their preferences when it comes to who they want to adopt.

They had already made the decision that they wanted a little boy. Not too old to be independent, but not too young as to be a nuisance. They weren’t going to put up with a brat, nor were they interested in any crybabies. The famed CEO was also set on brown hair, to match his and Stephen’s. A picture perfect Little was what they were looking for, nothing less.

“Uh, let’s see- I believe it’s a little over 550 thousand a year for each of us. We’re on a joint bank account, so the financials should all be in order.” Stephen informed the woman, not really bothering to read her name tag.

Only at the mention of the income did the social worker seem optimistic. Both Stephen and Tony knew that the money made all this easier. The adoption center was in desperate need of renovation, and perhaps some extra space, or fewer Littles. The walls of the lobby that they were in were painted a faint yellow colour, but through the years it seemed to have grown quite hideous after years of exposure from the sun. The social worker behind the desk also seemed worn out from years of working, but she still forced a smile when she took the forms from the two caregivers. She glanced over the Little form, and hummed lazily. 

“Yes, we might have one that suits your needs.”

Tony forced a cheesy smile back at her, taking his husband’s hand in a ginger fashion. Neither of them were new to their money, per se, and the environment was definitely reminding them of that.

They would need to make sure whichever Little they took home was properly bathed first, if the lobby itself was any indication of the rest of the building.

A loose penny sat in the corner of the room, dropped on the floor and abandoned. Tony had never believed in lucky pennies, superstitions being far below his pay grade, but he had hope that this one held merit. He really didn’t want to spend any more time checking out different Centers.

“Honey.” Stephen prompted. “You’re squeezing a bit too hard.” Tony looked up at his husband, looking surprised before he quickly let go of Stephen’s hand, only to have his husband grasp his hand again. “No, it’s okay, just... Just try to enjoy this, yeah? This is supposed to be a life changing thing.” Stephen said gently, trying to catch Tony’s eyes, but the latter was still eyeing the penny on the ground. 

“Yeah, well... We also thought the three other Centers would change our lives, didn’t we?” Tony snapped back, but he regretted his tone of voice in an instant. Stephen wasn’t his enemy with this.

As if waiting for the tension to begin, a different social worker came back through the door, this time a male with hair of fire and freckles littering his cheeks. If he wasn’t so tall and well dressed, he could have passed for one of the Littles.

“Mr. and Mr. Stark-Strange, a pleasure to meet the two of you.” He greeted. “I’m James, I’ll be helping you along for a bit today, as well as some of the other... more fit applicants.” James finished.

Ah, so he was the guy they assigned to the wealthy caregivers. Not a surprise, they both figured, simply different from how they had been treated at some of the other Centers. Clearly, this one was really desperate for money. James offered them a falsified smile, still lingering with tension. 

“Do you have any questions for me before the event?” He asked.

“Not really that I can think of.” Stephen started on behalf of both himself and his husband. “We’ve been at three other Centers already.” 

“Oh? Did someone offer more for the ones you had your eyes on? I know many CGs get frustrated when that happens, so it’s completely understandable.” James explained away, but Stephen’s upper lip twitched at the James’ implication that they couldn’t afford the Little they had their eyes on. 

“It wasn’t the price.” Tony stepped up with a smile directed at James. “We just didn’t see a good fit between us and the little ones.”

James blinked a few times at that. It was rare for a caregiver to go through a whole center without finding ‘the one’, let alone three. But, the two husbands only wanted the best, and the best they shall have.

“I see you’ve set a lot of specifications.” The worker commented, flipping through the paperwork in his hands. “But, I think we have more than a few kiddos that should fit just fine within the parameters. And a couple more that are plenty close.”

“We’re not interested in close.” Stephen pushed. “We aren’t in the habit of settling.”

James blinked twice again before looking back down at the papers, and Tony cleared his throat softly like he was sending a smoke signal to his husband to turn it down a notch. They must play this off well, and that includes not upsetting the social worker in charge of their matching. 

“Right, so... Would you like to come with me and see the cutie pies?” James invited and gestured to a door at the end of a corridor. From behind the door, one could hear faintly the voices of Littles, and a few caregivers too. The noises were definitely pulling in the husbands, and so they followed James to the door.

The minute the gates of caregiver heaven were opened, Stephen could understand why this place seemed so overwhelmed. There had to be 50- no, 70 Littles in the room, all making their own unique sounds as they bombarded the two mens’ ears. Sounds of ‘my toy!’, ‘play wif me!’, and ‘you’re my fav’ite Mommy so far’ all swept through the vicinity, delivering different feelings and expressions as they went. A few of the Littles ran over towards the new faces, eagerly begging for attention, but James shooed them off as he guided the men towards the first of the multitude of wards he had picked out for them.

The difference in greeting on this ward compared to the last one had Stephen and Tony both surprised with their eyebrows slightly raised. In this ward, most of the Littles seemed startled rather than excited to see the two of them and James enter. Some even ran off and hid behind toy boxes, tables and cupboards. 

“Come on now! We have guests here. Is this how we greet them? Now, get in line. And silently.” James added and clapped his hands to motivate, or maybe even scare, the Littles into getting in a line in front of Stephen and Tony. The line went from tallest to shortest, but the husbands could see that this group of Littles were definitely on the younger side. And closer to what they envisioned their perfect Little to be like.

Tony was a little surprised that no other adults were in this room, since the Littles were all clearly top of the line. Little models, the lot of them. He could only assume that they were more expensive, way too far above the price range of the average middle class buyer.

“Now, step forward in order and tell the nice men your names and ages. We don’t keep people waiting.” James commanded, making a few of the Littles stiffen and whimper, before being cut off by a harsh look from the social worker.

Stephen nor Tony bothered to pay much mind to the female Littles, nor the male ones when they saw their blonde or ginger hair or heard that they were above the headspace range of 5 years. But, then a brunette, male, petite and rosy-cheeked Little stepped forward to state his name. 

“’Am Peter and- and I’m 4. Sometimes.” 

“Peter, just your name and age, please. Nothing else. And chin up, for Gods sake!” James commanded.

Stephen and Tony felt like the rug was pulled away under their feet, but instead of falling over with surprise, they fell over with adoration for the boy in front of them. 

“This is the one I think will suit your needs perfectly, Mr and Mr Stark-Strange.” James said, confirming the husbands’ hopes that this was the one. “If only he could behave for once.” The worker snapped down to the boy.

Peter winced at that, his face going a bright red as a waterfall began to form in his eyes. He sucked in a tight breath, holding the tears back. The boy forced a less than believable smile, clearly struggling to follow orders. Not ideal, necessarily, but it didn’t bother either of the two caregivers, so they didn’t comment on the matter.

“Peter here is definitely high-priced, but you two seem more than capable of holding your own. He’s got an IQ higher than some of our ten year olds, but certainly doesn’t show it much. The little guy is very innocent, of course, and generally easy to train. We have him in pull-ups at the moment, but it wouldn’t take more than a few weeks to change that if you’d prefer something else.”

“Any other complications? Medical history or conditions?” Stephen asked. He nor Tony minded a boy in pull ups, but the doctor had to know about any potential medical conditions or some history. 

James shifted on his feet before answering. 

“Peter’s got asthma, but it is quite manageable. He barely needs his inhaler anyway.”  
Almost as if on cue, Peter coughed softly into the crook of his elbow. Stephen smiled softly at seeing the boy use good coughing technique, but then he noticed what could possibly be a rash on the boy’s forearm. He stepped forward, gently taking Peter’s arm into his hands. 

“What happened here?” Stephen asked, not sure if he was talking to Peter or James.  
Of course, Peter wasn’t meant to be speaking right now, so that question didn’t really need answering, did it?

“Oh, um, yes. We took some of the younger ones outside recently, you see, and- uh- Peter just tripped a little. Poison ivy. Yes, that’s what it was.” He said hastily.

Something about Peter’s expression tipped Stephen off that the man was likely embellishing, but he wasn’t going to push it. After all, this Little was adorable. Who were they to question a... temporary aesthetic problem? It couldn’t be that bad if James wasn’t concerned.

“It looks pretty inflamed and irritated. Are you giving him any kind of ointment for it?” Stephen asked James, still holding onto Peter’s wrist. 

“The Center doctor is seeing him again tomorrow, no worries. He’ll be as good as new when you get through the adoption process. If, you want him of course.” James said, and Tony spoke up this time to agree. Of course they wanted this boy, rash or no rash.

“I think we’re both in the mood to motion for purchase.” Tony smiled. At that, James picked the boy up, settling him precariously on his hip. 

“In that case, why don’t we go check in with some of the higher-ups? I’m sure they’ll be ecstatic about the news.”

Suddenly, Peter began to wave at the two husbands, seemingly having become interested in their presence. James pulled the boy’s hand down, but not before Stephen waved back. Walking through the familiar room from before, Tony caught a few desperate glances at Peter from less well-off caregivers. Luckily, the Little didn’t notice their presence, since he was too interested in staring at the party before him. In a sort of haste, they were taken back to the main office.

James led them to a free meeting room and directed the husbands to sit down on a sofa. Meanwhile, James sank into a chair opposite them after fetching some more paperwork and a file. Even upside down, the husbands could see that the file had Peter’s name on it. 

“So, what would you like to know about Peter?” James started. 

Although the social worker had directed Peter to sit in a chair next to him, the boy quickly jumped up again. He planted his small hands on the coffee table between them and shifted his weight back and forth nervously. But, he never tore his eyes off of the two caregivers in front of him.

Tony laughed a little at the boy’s interest. 

“How is he still available?” He joked, grabbing his husband’s hand in a loving manner. At that, James stiffened, seemingly compromised. 

“You aren’t being ripped off, he’s perfectly good. Young, in shape, attractive. It’s just the asthma that’s wrong.”

By the end, Peter’s eyes, still staring wearingly at the prospective caregivers, began to well up once more. His posture grew tense and abnormal. Stephen frowned a little at the accusation. 

“Nothings wrong with him, no. Trust me here, I’m a literal MD. We’re not going to pull out over asthma.” He quelled.

“Right, because it is very manageable with his inhaler. Like I said, he barely even needs the inhaler.” James added with a smile, so that they were agreeing. But, Stephen was still sceptical. 

“Which kind of inhaler specifically?”

“I’m not sure. The Center doctor knows, though.” 

“Well, can I talk to them?”

“He’s only here once every two weeks on Fridays.” James said, which to Stephen sounded like a no. The doctor tried to ask to see Peter’s medical file, but was once again denied. “The Center doctor has them, but I can assure you that Peter’s flaws will not undermine the rest of his value. I really do think he is a match for you two.”

“We’d agree.” Tony claimed, squeezing his husband’s hand once again. This time, Stephen squeezed back. Smiling a real, genuine smile, James pushed Peter forward and towards the husbands. 

“You can look him over if you’d like.” He reminded, as though they didn’t already know what step was next. 

The two men scanned the boy over, occasionally lifting an arm or appendage to check that everything was in working order. Being the doctor, Stephen did most of the physical checking. Overall, the boy looked to be in good health, but like he could do with a haircut, getting his nails trimmed nicely and a body lotion to soften his skin. The rash would definitely need a prescription ointment too, but Stephen could fix that easily. He just hoped the Center would actually take the prescription if he sent one. 

“Can I lift up your shirt, handsome?” Stephen asked Peter, pointing to the boy’s t-shirt. He wanted to check if the boy was at a healthy weight. The boy hesitated, but hearing James clear his throat behind him, Peter nodded and let Stephen do as he pleased.

Peter’s ribs were clearly bulging out, leaving his stomach to cave in as though he had been severely underfed. They weren’t protruding one by one, thank heaven, but the mass of bone was evident from an outward view. The boy couldn’t have been more than 100 pounds. Even that was pushing it.

“When was the last time you ate, sweetheart?” Tony asked, now joining his beloved as they knelt to examine the area. 

Peter looked up to James, unsure of how to answer. Unsure of what kind of answer was allowed. Getting a nod from James, Peter dared to answer. 

“This mornin’. We had oatmeal, and I ate all of it.” The boy said while Stephen pulled his t-shirt back into place nicely. 

“That’s good, that’s good.” Stephen smiled, but if he had to guess, he would think that Peter’s weight has more to do with what the Center actually offers in terms of meals rather than the Little being bratty and not eating. 

“We feed them at the same times everyday. Peter’s very good during meal times, unlike some others.” James said with a quiet sigh of frustration. 

Stephen laughed, having heard more than a few horror stories from friends of Littles who refused to eat ‘yucky food’, often times vegetables. He and Tony wouldn’t be so lenient as to take a Little who acted out like that.

“That’s very good.” He acknowledged, hoping to give the boy some comfort. Peter‘s frown raised a bit at the praise, making the husbands’ stomachs flip and flop every which way.

“Is there anything else you’d like to ask Peter before I send him back? His group is having naptime shortly.” James said, and looked at the watch on his wrist. 

Hopefully, Peter looked up at the two caregivers with his bottom lip between his teeth. The husbands could see how the boy was like a volcano about to burst. The boy had so much to tell, but the time and space didn’t seem right. Not when James was urging them to wrap this up. Tony sat up a bit and looked into Peter’s eyes, then spoke gently. 

“I know many have been here to see you, Peter. Maybe some of them even promised they’d take you with them, to a home. And uhm- I’d like to think that my husband and I are different. Because we would love to have you as our little boy.” Tony said, glancing over at his husband next to him. Stephen nodded, prompting Tony to finish. “So, my question to you is, would you perhaps like to come with us?”

Suddenly, for what was seemingly the first time in years, Peter’s smile was let out.  
Bright white teeth filled the vision of either husband as the boy began to viscously nod his head back and forth, back and forth. Then, he stopped, and looked up to James, a fearful face overtaking the prior glee.

“What ‘bout M-Mr. Beck?” He asked. James tensed, suddenly yanking Peter backwards and harshly squeezing onto the boy’s shoulders. 

“Peter, that’s very naughty. Stop it.” James threatened. “Now, head back to your group room and do as Nichole says.” He ordered and shoved the boy out of the room, even adding a good spank to his behind for good measure before closing the door behind Peter. 

This wasn’t anything that the husbands hadn’t seen before, and so instead of lashing out at the worker, they keep their cool. They try to comfort themselves with the thought that once the boy is their’s, Peter will never be treated like that again. 

“Who’s Beck?” Tony asked curiously. “Is he a friend of Peter’s?”

James shuddered, sitting back down at the desk and signalling for the husbands to follow suit.

“Mr. Beck is another interested party in Peter’s case.” He explained. “He’s… an equally valued man, to say the least. Really, we would have sent Peter home with him months ago had he not continuously failed the screening process.”

Both men’s jaws hardened, and they abruptly set their faces to ones of pure, unadulterated passion.

“Why did he fail it?” Tony asked urgently. 

“I cannot say, but he is trying again, so if you are really interested in Peter, well- I hope your bank accounts are ready.” James said with a sigh, but in just a split second he was back to smiling. “But, I’m sure it will be fine! Have you been to the auctions before? They are so exciting.”

Neither husband was quite prepared to let the threat to their perfect Little go, but they did so for the moment. It would have to come up again later.

“Not really.” Stephen admitted, “Thought we’ve heard plenty. Still, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to get an inside view on the matter. What can you tell us?” He asked, speaking for both himself and the CEO.

“Oh, it’s a lovely event, really.” James started with a clap of his hands, pleased that they had changed the topic. “It starts at 6, and all the CG gather in this hall we have in town. You know, it’s not just our Center doing the auction, but others too. It’s this huge, combined event.” 

“And what about the Littles? I know some Centers have stopped showing them onstage.” Stephen pointed out. 

“Yes, we are one of those Centers. We put up pictures on the screen. It was just too much trouble having them on stage, crying and pissing themselves. Surprisingly enough, no one wants to buy a Little like that.” James laughed lightly.

“He seems like a nice boy, though.” The doctor commented with a smile. 

“Oh, they all seem like that until you put a number and a spotlight on them, trust me.” James claimed.

Stephen’s thoughts wandered to a false memory, a figment of his imagination. Somewhere in the depths of his being, there was Peter. He saw Peter. And him. And Tony. The perfect little family, and all it would take was a little auction.

But, to get to the auction, James said that the center would have to do thorough background checks on both Tony and Stephen. They gave their signed consent to that, and then they were told to wait for the Center to set up a playdate where they could meet Peter again. The thought of the playdate had Tony giddy, and so when he walked out with his husband through the lobby this time, the yellow walls didn’t mind him as much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you sm for reading! So, what do you think of this verse? Laney and I spent a good while just making this world and set the tone. We'd love to know what you guys think of it xx  
> In the next one, we'll get to see what an average day at the Center is like for Peter.


	2. Just Another Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just another day at the Center.

Peter woke up to the gentle noises of the other boys. The shuffling in bed, or whispering between other awoken Littles, was deafening when one focused on it. Next to him, Flash was kicking the sheets as he struggled to combat an apparent nightmare. Peter was just glad the other Little hadn’t wet the bed again, maybe he would be lucky enough for the stupid rash from yesterday to heal up.

“Peter…” Flash whispered as he began to open his eyes.

“Shush.” Peter snapped back and wiggled an inch away from Flash next to him. He didn’t care that Flash was having a nightmare, nor about anything that involved Flash actually. He wanted nothing to do with him, but that was hard when one shared a bed with him. It wasn’t that Peter hated sharing a bed, cause he loved doing it when Ned was still at the Center, but Flash was something else. Squeezing his eyes shut, Peter tried to fall asleep again, but Flash continued to wiggle next to him. And then, the bell rang.

“Up, up, up! Come on, boys, no pouting! It’s time to get dressed for the day and then we can go get some breakfast.” Nichole prompted, physically lifting some of the young ones out of their bed and onto the cold, hard floor. Peter included, unfortunately.

The boy sat still as he waited in line, before getting to his turn. The clothes, freshly cleaned after yesterday’s event and now ready to be worn again, were too big for him as always. He was pretty sure D’Marcus had this shirt yesterday, and D’Marcus definitely spilled peanut butter on it at dinner. He sniffed the collar. Yep, peanut butter.

“Stop standing around, Peter, go follow one of the big kids to the cafeteria.” Nichole instructed him, before pausing when Peter huffed at the command. “Unless you want to stay and go with the little kids for a potty break, hm?”

Peter shook his head fast, and hurried off, without running though. He followed one of the older Littles to the cafeteria, and went to stand in line to get his food. 

It was always the same. A bowl of bland oatmeal, a glass of milk and half an apple cut into slices. That was his breakfast everyday, and Peter hated it. While balancing the tray and heading to his assigned seat, Peter thought of how he would never ever eat oatmeal again after leaving the Center. That is if he will get to leave. 

Then, the boy started to think of the two handsome men who came to see him the day before. His cheeks heated up a bit at the memories. Mr. and Mr. Stark-Strange. That’s what James had called them. Peter liked that name, even if he didn’t know what their first names were. Maybe he would practice his writing during paper time. Then he could write it out more. Peter Stark-Strange. It sounded much nicer than Peter Beck.

After forcing down his breakfast, Peter followed Nichole and the others to their next scheduled activity, which was free play time. The boy tried to look for MJ, but he couldn’t find her amongst all the other Littles. Perhaps her group was outside on the playground. He hoped he’d find her soon though to tell her about the grown ups who might take him away soon. Many others have tried, but it never worked out properly. One time, Peter did actually leave the Center with a Mommy, but then she brought him back a week later. He never got a reason as to why she brought him back.

Peter had been in Group C ever since. Which, while not the worst group to be in, was definitely not as fun as Group H had been. MJ was in Group L, with was for girls with low price tags. He thought MJ should be worth more than him, but that wasn’t really Peter’s place. He could think MJ was pretty and funny and a really good friend all he wanted, it wouldn’t make a difference. Group C was for the boys like him. The ones that were super duper expensive.

Peter wasn’t really supposed to know that, about all the pricing. But, if you knew what to look for, then it was as clear as day. The ones in Group C were skinnier, prettier, healthier, sweeter and more obedient. Many Littles had tried to switch groups, to be with the friends that they had made, but they were always denied by the workers. So, they all knew their places, and so Peter didn’t go asking Nichole where MJ was. He would see her soon. Hopefully.

“Peter.” Nichole said, tapping his shoulder. “It’s time for you to go see the doctor.”  
Peter frowned, kicking his feet a little as he shot the woman a pair of pleading eyes.  
Nichole laughed. “Don’t give me that, young man. There was a couple last night that expressed concern about your rash, we need to get that taken care of before they start getting upset. They already signed for a play date, so you have to look spic and span by then.”

Peter doesn’t mind Doctor Bruce, but seeing him often involved uncomfortable things like getting his temperature taken down there, getting poked or having to undress in some way. But, then again, the doctor was very kind and gentle. Peter liked talking to Bruce. It felt like Bruce actually listened to him, and didn’t just give orders. 

Peter was old enough to walk to the main office himself and this time even remembered to knock on the med-room before entering.

“Peter! How’s my favorite little guy?” Bruce asked. Peter smiled, giving the man a fist bump as he entered. “So, I hear you got a rash, huh? Where’d that come from?”

“Flash wet the bed ‘gain.” The boy mumbled. 

“Again?” Bruce sighed. “We’re gonna need to figure something out with him, this is becoming a habit.”

The boy hummed in agreement and used the stepping stool to get up onto the padded exam bed. The doctor came to stand next to him with a friendly smile on his face. He gestured for Peter to show his arm, and the boy obeyed. 

“Ouch! That looks painful, bud.” Bruce said sympathetically. “I’ll get you a cream for that right away.” While Bruce applied the cream to his rash, Peter gently swung his feet back and forth under the table. 

“Brucie? Is there- like somethin’ wrong with me?”

Bruce appeared shocked for a moment, before masking the expression with one of calmness. He smiled. 

“There’s nothing wrong with you, Peter. You have your inhaler, and we-”

“No. Not- not that.” The boy responded. “Is there something wrong with me? Like, am I... bad?”  
Bruce frowned at that. 

“No, buddy, you’re not... bad. Not necessarily. I’ve seen much worse from the kids in other groups. But, you know, you have to learn to listen to instructions. All of these nice people that keep wanting to take you home with them, they don’t want a Little who doesn’t know how to follow orders. You’re to be seen, not heard. That make sense?” The doctor asked.

Peter nodded a little glumly. The doctor was nice, mostly, but he was still a grown up. And that meant orders. So, he didn’t say anything else. Only seen, not heard. 

Bruce caught onto the boy’s change in mood in an instant, and ran his hand through the boy’s hair to offer some comfort to make up for what he said. 

“Why do you ask, bud?” The doctor asked then, grabbing his stethoscope from his medical bag.

“Just... just thinkin’. ‘Cause there were grown ups here yesterday that wanted me and James was with ‘em. And he kept sayin’ I’m not good and...” Peter trailed off.

The man continued checking Peter’s heart, before giving the boy a gentle rub on his tummy. He spoke gently. 

“You, Peter, are very good. You just need to try to be even better. But, that doesn’t make you not good. James just talks like that because he has to let them know everything about you, that way they don’t get mad later. You don’t want what happened last time to happen again, huh?”

Peter shook his head fast, and then occupied himself with taking deep breaths for the doctor. Due to his asthma, he knew the routine now and smiled a bit when Bruce praised him. He wasn’t that bad. He just had to be better. 

“Do grown ups have to be good all the time too?” The boy asked next. Even though the doctor was a grown up too, he was a bit different. A bit kinder, so Peter actually dared to ask the questions that were bugging him.

“Kind of.” Bruce informed him. “Grown ups have something super special that the government sets for us, like rules, and we have to follow those or else we go in a super special kind of grownup time out.”

Peter cocked his head a little at that. Grown ups got time out? How?

“Do grown ups get spankings too?”

Bruce choked on his own saliva.

“No, we don’t, bud. We get something else entirely.” The doctor said and put his stethoscope away. “Now, lay back. And no more talking about these things, okay?” He suggested, but Peter knew it was an order, so he obeyed. 

The part where the doctor checked his stomach was the worst. Not because it hurt, not really, but because the pressing on his abdomen made him more aware of his hunger. He wanted food. Not just any food, though. He wanted the food that made his stomach swell, the food that he saw when his group had TV time, where there would be Littles with their Caregivers eating pancakes and cheeseburgers and anything they wanted.

Maybe Mr. and Mr. Stark-Strange would feed him. Maybe they were going to take him home soon and everything he ate would make his tummy happy. Maybe they would give him ice cream!

“Peter? Peter! Hey, bud. You with me? I asked you a question.” Bruce said and Peter blushed in an instant. This would probably be categorised as bad behaviour. And he was supposed to be better than that. “Peter, have you been in any pain? Any tightness in your chest?” The doctor asked, and Peter shook his head to both questions, and he was being honest. He was just hungry, and a bit itchy on his arm, that’s all. 

“No, am okay.”

“What were you thinking about? You seemed to be somewhere else entirely.” Bruce chuckled and helped Peter to sit back up.

The Little hesitated, not sure what answer was allowed of him. He didn’t want to look like a bray, or like he didn’t appreciate the food he was given, so Peter decided to simply shrug in response. Seen, not heard.

“Well, your chest sounds fine, breathing and whatnot. You should be fit for auction, won’t that be fun?” Bruce asked him.

Peter nodded again, although he didn’t really think the auction would be fun. Being backstage, having everyone rush about, all the noise and the good behaviour... Well, it all adds up into one big headache. And it might just turn even bigger if he gets bought, only to be brought back a week later. Again. 

“Now, I’ll go and talk to the office here and make sure Flash gets a bed for himself. And, I’ll make sure someone applies the cream on your rash for the next few days. All right? That sound good?”

Peter smiled at the idea. Nobody got a bed to themselves. But, if Flash was getting one, maybe he didn’t need to share anymore. MJ was gonna be so jealous. The boy nodded gleefully, taking Bruce’s hand and stepping off of the padded table. They said their goodbyes, one a little more eloquent than the other, and Peter took off for the playroom he had left nearly 20 minutes ago.

Since Peter had been gone for a good while, he didn’t get to properly settle with a game before free play time was over and his group was directed outside. Following Nichole, Peter waited his turn to put his shoes on, and then ran off as soon as he stepped outside. Being outside was one of his favourite things, because you could run outside and that meant also avoiding the grown ups. Still, he was a bit bummed out about not seeing MJ yet, but the boy was still in good spirits as he ran to the swings.

“Peter!” A voice echoed, shouting down at him from above. Somewhere high up, balancing atop the monkey bars, was Flash. His head was fitted with a little crown, made up of construction paper that one of the workers had probably cut up for him. “Come up already!” He shouted. “Play with the big kids for once!”

“No, I’m good here.” Peter shouted back, and climbed onto the swing so that the security band was in front of him, preventing him from falling off the swing. He hoped Flash would just let him be, when he saw him busy on the swing, but of course he didn’t. Peter picked up his speed on the swing while Flash walked over to him. 

“Hey! Come on. You’re not being cool, Peter.” Flash accused.

Peter startled.

“’M cool!” He whined, continuing to kick haplessly so that the swing would rock back and forth with intensive speed. Flash reached his hand out, stopping the swing as it came forward, and tried to grab Peter’s wrist. 

“Come on, you’re gonna hang out with me. Then you’ll be cool.”

Peter pushed away, trying to resume his swinging, but he wasn’t quick enough, for Flash had already grasped his wrist and was pulling him out of the swing.

“Hey, ouch-! Stop, Flash!” Peter cried out and stumbled back as Flash pulled him off the swing. Luckily, he didn’t loose his balance, and he remained up on his feet and looked at Flash with an annoyed facial expression. 

“Come on, now! We’re inviting you to our fort. It’s gonna be cool.” Flash added, still holding onto Peter’s wrist. 

“I said, I’m good. I don’t wanna go to your fort.”

Flash seethed, his face bulging with angry veins. 

“You’re being a baby, Peter. We won’t want to play with you anymore if you can’t be a big kid like us. Come. Now.”

The boy tensed and allowed himself to be pulled along and towards the ‘fort'- which was really a mass of playground toys and broken equipment- all collected and hidden behind the largest tree in the whole outside area.

Peter wasn’t really in on the whole fort game, that much was clear. Mostly, he was just the outcast it seemed, someone for the others to pick on and push to the ground to elevate themselves. This wasn’t the first time either, but Peter tried to be brave, to pretend like he was in on it and having fun. But, deep down he missed MJ and Ned so much. Perhaps, if he was lucky, he could sit next to MJ during lunch. Oh no, now he was thinking about food again.

During dinner that night, Peter was served his usual meal of peanut butter on toast, a side of country-style green beans to accompany the carbs. After, he was guided back to the bedroom, so that Nichole could make sure all of the Littles were properly dressed for bedtime. The onesie that was given to him tonight, despite being freshly cleaned, was notably the one Flash had been wearing the most recent time he didn’t use the potty break before lights out and ended up wetting the bed with both himself and Peter in it.

“Hey! Not fair. You always get the nice ones.” Flash whined, having just noticed Peter’s attire as they walked back to the bathroom for their one toothbrush session of the day.  
Peter huffed. 

“Stop peein’ in the bed and maybe you’ll get it again.” He claimed.

Peter hadn’t expected Flash to snap so quickly at the comment, so Peter stumbled back and lost his balance when Flash shoved him in the tooth brushing line. Peter yelped when he hit the back of his head against the wall, then glared up at Flash. Before he could get his revenge though, Nichole came in between them. 

“Hey! What’s going on here? Is this how we behave in line?”

“P-P-Peter made fun of me-e-e-e.” Flash began to cry, crocodile tears pouring out at top speed.

Peter panicked. What was he to do? What could he do, if Flash was going to blame this all on him anyway? He only had one option.

“No, Flash shoved me and I didn’t do anything!” Peter defended himself, but Nichole seemed to have none of it. 

“Enough! Both of you!” She shouted, startling more than just Peter and Flash. “Flash, you’re on thin ice since what you did last week. One more screw up, and I’m sending you to be corrected. And Peter, you have two CG interested in you, and this is how you behave? Imagine if they knew what you did, huh? They’d never buy you.”

Peter startled backwards like he had been shoved again. He didn’t mean to be bad. It just... sort of... happened. Now the Stark-Stranges were never gonna buy him and Mr. Beck wouldn’t either because he wouldn’t be a good boy anymore and then… Peter nodded sullenly, jumping back into line and wiping the frown off of his face. He followed the other kids along, finally getting his teeth brushed by one of the workers, a stiff man named Ivan, and was guided back to the bedroom quarters for some shut-eye.

To say that Peter was disappointed to see Flash climb into his bed again was an understatement. He was devastated and angry. Hadn’t Bruce promised to fix it? This couldn’t be right, no way. So, the boy headed to Nichole and tapped her forearm. 

“Nichole? I have a question.” The boy started, making sure to put on his good boy manners since he had screwed up so royally in the line earlier.

Nichole rolled her eyes a little, clearly annoyed at Peter’s display of independence. He wasn’t really supposed to ask questions, otherwise he wouldn’t be as cute and docile as people liked, but he couldn’t help it! Something was wrong!

“What is it, bud?” She asked. Peter smiled politely and gestured back to his and Flash’s bed, careful not to point. 

“Brucie said Flash wasn’t gonna sleep with me anymore. ‘Cause... ‘cause I got a rash last time he...” 

Nichole interrupted Peter with a sigh. 

“Peter, we can’t just move you Littles around as we please. There’s only 10 beds for the 20 of you. Maybe someone else will get moved to Group C, then we can look into it. Until then, you and Flash will continue being bedmates. If you stop whining about it, though, maybe we can get him some protection for nighttime so you don’t get another rash. Will that shut you up?” She queried.

“Yeah... Thank you.” Peter forced out and then hurried off back to his bed before Nichole could scold him again. 

Peter was still very much wound up and annoyed when he got under his covers. He gave Flash a cold shoulder, and turned on his side so his back was to the other boy. 

“You’re joining us on the fort again tomorrow.” Flash stated. 

Peter sighed into his pillow. Great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you sm for reading! And an extra thank you to everyone who commented such nice things on the first chapter. Laney and I are both so, so excited for you all to see what we have created together.   
> In the next one, there will be a playdate.


	3. The Playdate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephen and Tony go on a playdate to get to know Peter better.

The husbands were, to say the least, absolutely terrified, which was strange for them, considering that this was just a playdate with a Little. The kiddo was going to love them no matter what. 

That is, unless he does not, which would be awful, because they were definitely going to buy this one. Peter had to like them, or else it would make for a very rough first couple of weeks.

The husbands made their way to the lobby with the ugly yellow walls again, and after a few minutes of waiting, they were brought to a playroom. The room had the same yellow colour as in the lobby, and the toys scattered on the floor looked old. Some were missing a few parts, making the toys less than desirable, let alone functioning. After a few more minutes of waiting, James showed up with Peter in tow. Both of the husbands stood up to greet the boy with wide smiles. 

“Hey, bud! How are you?”

“It’s so good to see you, Peter.”

Peter smiled shyly, muttering out a greeting of his own. 

“Can we play now?” The boy asked James, who looked to the husbands.

“Would you like to begin?” James questioned. Of course both of the husbands began to immediately nod their heads, before grabbing either of Peter’s shoulders and guiding the boy over to a nearby toy box that seemed to have seen better days. James quietly stepped back, taking a seat in the chair in the corner.

“Well, sweetie, what’s your favourite game here?” Tony asked.

“I don’t know...” Peter said honestly, scanning the toy box with his eyes as well as some of the space around him. But, he didn’t raise his gaze high enough to meet the husbands’ eyes. That seemed too intimate, at least while James was still with them. 

“Hmm, let’s see then...” Stephen hummed mostly to himself and lifted up a few toys so they could get an overview of what was available. The doctor couldn’t help but notice how the toys seemed to be sticky and dirty. He hoped that Peter wasn’t one who put his fingers in his mouth, since that could lead to some nasty colds. “What about this one?” The doctor offered, holding up a semi-functional model race car toy. It had ‘The Vulture’ written on the side of it, seemingly a reference to whatever driver it was created after. “See, buddy? It’s a car. You like cars?”

Peter shrugged, glancing over to the dress up box at the other end of the playroom, before going back to shuffling through the toys available to him. Finally, Tony decided to offer the boy a rather large doll, seemingly 8 or 9 inches tall, that looked like a knight in shining armour. Maybe Peter was more of a gentle play kind of Little? Peter took the doll, more out of politeness rather than actually wanting to play with it. But, he knew he had to play, because James was watching him, so he adjusted the clothes on the doll so that they fit nicely. 

“How’s the rash on your arm?” Stephen decided to ask, hoping that the boy would appreciate him asking about his well being, but he was also curious to know himself. “Can I see it?”

Peter nodded and pulled up the sleeve of his shirt to show his forearm. The rash cream had worked, and Flash hadn’t peed the bed again yet, so the rash was less angry and red than last week. 

“Is okay. Doctuh Brucie put cream on it and it’s better now.”

“That’s very good.” Stephen cooed, rubbing his hand across the rough skin of Peter’s arm. The Little would definitely be in need of some nighttime lotion, but he could bring that up to his husband the next time they went shopping for Peter’s nursery.

Peter showed a gentle smile at the interest, before moving the doll in his hands’ arm a little bit, turning the knight around to face Stephen. Tony reached into the box again, grabbing each of them their own dolls since Peter was apparently ready to play now.  
Still, the boy kept glancing towards that box.

They tried to play, they really did. The husbands couldn’t pinpoint what exactly was making it so hard to have a good time. Perhaps it was James watching them, or Peter didn’t like this game or maybe he didn’t like them. The caregivers tried not to stress though, since that would make everything worse. But, then Tony noticed that Peter had looked away for the fifth time now. Following the boy’s gaze, Tony saw a box in the back with what seemed like a cowboy hat, a fairy wand and some other stuff poking out from the top. Perhaps…

“Hey, do you wanna look at that box? See if we can find something interesting?” Tony asked Peter.

Suddenly, Peter dropped the knight to the ground, running off at full speed towards the box and immediately crouched down next to it. The men laughed and followed after him, noticing an obvious eye roll from James as the worker took more notes. 

“What about this one?” Stephen offered, placing the cowboy hat atop Peter’s head jokingly. The Little startled, looking up at it before calmly stating. 

“Dat one’s for Ha’ley in Group B. Nobody else is s’posed to touch it. Or he gets mad.”

“Oh, okay, then we can let it be.” Stephen said, wanting to validate Peter’s point rather than argue. This was their second meeting after all, but what James thought of that they’ll have to find out later. Still, Stephen smiled at the boy and removed the hat. 

“Hmm, oh! Look, this is for you, isn’t it?” Tony joked and pulled out a play stethoscope, tossing it over to his husband. Stephen laughed dry at his husband as he studied the old toy. Peter, on the other hand, looked interested. 

“Are you a doctuh too? Do you know Brucie?”

Stephen laughed softly at the Little’s enthusiasm. 

“Maybe.” He humoured, accepting that Peter was right in the age range where all doctors knowing each other would make perfect sense.

“What do you do?” The boy asked Tony, who was in the middle of fitting himself with a set of plastic pearls.

“Me? Oh, I’m basically a business man. Kind of boring.” Tony shrugged. Playing doctor was popular for sure, but playing CEO? Not so much. 

“He’s the big boss. He has his own company.” Stephen added for Peter helpfully. The boy nodded to show that he understood. 

“It sounds important.” Peter said. Tony laughed. The chance that Peter fully comprehended what a CEO was small, especially since he was under 5, but the boy was supposedly very smart. “What company?” Peter asked, eliciting a warning cough from James.

“Oh, it’s called Stark Industries. But, that’s all boring grown up stuff, yeah? You’d much rather hear about the doctor stuff.”

Abruptly, Peter broke out into a gasp. 

“You made the TV!” He shouted.

“Did I?” Tony asked with a chuckle. 

“Yeah, yeah! It says ’Stark Indu’try’ on the edge. I’ve seen.” Peter nodded confidently. 

“Well, I guess I did then.” Tony chuckled. “So, you can read? Do you read a lot?” 

“Sometimes. I don’t like when they don’t have pictures though. TV’s way more fun. And- and especially Pokémon.”

Stephen cocked his head to the side, looking down at the boy with an inquisitive expression. 

“What’s that?” He asked. Peter gasped, seeming like he was about to say something, before shutting his mouth tightly, glancing back to lock eyes with James. 

“Is nothin’.” The Little claimed, averting his focus back to the clothing. “Here, you can be firefighter.” He said, placing the chunky plastic hat onto Tony’s head.

“No, no, baby- we want to know what you’re interested in.” Stephen persisted.

But, Peter wouldn’t answer and continued to push Tony into being a firefighter. It was like the boy was suddenly nervous and forcing the game to continue in a desperate attempt to achieve something. Stephen was definitely curious, and his guess was that it could have something to do with James. So, the doctor coughed a little dryly, and turned to James. 

“Sorry, uhm- could I have a glass of water?” 

With a tight smile, James stood up and headed out of the room to fetch a glass.

“You sick?” Peter asked, taking the toy stethoscope and pressing it gently to Stephen’s... forehead?

“No, buddy, I’m right as rain. Now, while we’re all alone, how about that Pokimen?” 

Peter giggled, glancing at the door where James had left. 

“Pokémon.” The Little stressed. “It’s- it’s borin’. Stupid. You wouldn’t like it.” He claimed. Both men sighed, still confident in their ability to coax it out of Peter. 

“Well, we can’t be sure of that until you tell us, honey.” Tony quelled.

“It’s a show, and there’s like cards, and- and there figures you can collect. I’ve seen it on the commercials.” Peter started, but kept himself detached from the whole thing and just stated the obvious. He had to test the waters out first. 

“Yeah? That sounds really interesting. Tell us more. We’d love to hear it.” Tony said with a smile and gestured to his husband as well who nodded in agreement. Well, here goes nothing, Peter thought. 

“It’s like- my favourite thing and I really wish I could have one.” The boy mumbled. “I want a Growlithe.”

“Is that like a puppy?” Stephen guessed with a laugh.

“Nooooo!” Peter squealed. “Is... is a puppy shaped tiger. Not a puppy, though. He’d bite you.”

Tony broke out into a fit of chuckles, before reaching over to tickle the boy’s tummy.  
Peter began to giggle relentlessly, shaking his head around and smiling so wide his face had to be hurting. 

“Maybe we’ll just have to get you one, huh, little man?”

Then, the door opened, and James came back in.

Peter quieted down immediately, so the husbands knew for sure that the quiet boy they had seen so far, wasn’t the real him. The one laughing and babbling about Pokémon without James hanging over him was definitely the real Peter. And they adored him. 

“There you go.” James smiled and handed Stephen the glass he had asked for. The doctor thanked him and took a sip of the water, although he didn’t need it. He had already gotten what he needed by sending James out of the room. “Were you a good boy while I was gone, Peter?” The man asked, looking down at his charge with a glint of something menacing in his eyes. The Little nodded frantically. 

“Uh huh. See, he’s a firefighter.” He pleaded, showing that Tony’s attire proved they had just been playing dress up.

“Well, then, bud, maybe you should give the nice men a break and go play with something more appropriate, hm?”

Peter nodded, and to Stephen and Tony’s surprise, he started cleaning away the dress up toys. Once he was done, he went back to the race cars, glancing up at James to check that he was doing the right thing. The husbands were itching to object, to argue against James and defend Peter so that he could do what he wanted. But, obviously there was no room for that at the Center. Let alone anywhere else.

They joined Peter with he race cars, pushing the back and forth before initiating a race across the playroom. Peter won, of course, because neither husband had the heart to actually run with their car when the boy’s Little physique would leave him at a disadvantage. They continued to play, of course, but the little guy never returned to that giggly monster from earlier. About an hour later, the two men noticed that Peter’s eyes were beginning to flutter, and his fingers would continuously meander towards his mouth, only stopped when Stephen or Tony would catch his hand.

“All right, I think we’ll have to wrap this up.” James announced a little abruptly, at least to the husbands. They couldn’t help but be disappointed that their time was up, but Peter was clearly tired. 

“Is naptime?” Peter asked quietly and with surprisingly little attitude in his voice. He sounded curious mostly. The husbands were both pleased at the idea of Peter being good with naptime. 

“Yeah, it is. Say bye-bye to the nice men now.” James directed Peter.

The boy turned to Tony and Stephen, offering a polite little finger wave as his eyes continued to droop. 

“Bye-bye!” He called.

“Bye, Peter!” Stephen called back. 

“You be a good boy now, buddy, and we’ll be back to play before you know it!” Tony added.

Peter smiled widely, before being lifted onto James’ hip and carried out of the room.  
Neither of the men could do anything when they briefly caught the boy’s thumb sliding into his mouth. Tony could physically feel Stephen cringe next to him and offered some sympathy by patting his shoulder, then pulled him closer to kiss his cheek. Stephen sighed fondly, and then said. 

“Let’s just hope he’s not sick if we get him.” 

“When we get him, babe.” Tony corrected with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you sm for reading! Both Laney and I are so stunned and happy about the response we have gotten to this fic so far from you guys. Thank you so so much! Keep the love coming ahah ;)) it's fuel for us and makes us want to create more ya know? <3 Like we aren't even half way through posting this already finished fic and Laney and I already talk about writing more for this verse eeee!!  
> In the next one, there will be an auction...


	4. The Auction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephen and Tony go to the auction.

The next few weeks were filled with playdates and planning.  
The husbands had decorated Peter’s bedroom to a T, and had even go so far as to do research on Pokémon. It was surprisingly entertaining, and they couldn’t wait to buy Peter some of the Pokémon themed items, and especially the plushies. But, they still had one more step to get through, and that was the auction. 

James had told them some more about it, and they received a formal invitation by mail a week later. The husbands were excited to say the least, but they couldn’t help but worry as well. They both recalled the name Beck and how James had said that he was interested in Peter as well. The auction was a formal event, so both Stephen and Tony were going to prepare their best suit, as well as their bank accounts.

The community hall was definitely an upgrade from the shabby center they had become accustomed to. The whole room was filled with chairs, each one holding a program, and was completely decorated for the event. Even the stage seemed lavish, completely painted in a jet black while accents of lilac hung around it on streamers. A large TV sat on the stage, showing a slideshow of each Little’s picture, which was to be shown when they were sold in a few short moments.

Stephen and Tony headed to the bar to occupy themselves with something till the actual auction started. While waiting for their drinks, the husbands scanned the large room to see if they could spot a familiar face or two. Just by their attire alone, Stephen could make out who were in each price range when it came to the Littles. Some were in the same one as them, others below them. But, most importantly, however, nobody above was them.

“Ah, funny seeing you here, Stark.” A voice echoed from behind them. Turning around, the husbands immediately recognised Nathan Shiels, one of Tony’s ex-employees. That had been a rough week for both of them, all of the finances were completely out of wack thanks to one man’s incompetence.

“Nathan, always a pleasure.” Tony smiled, lying through his teeth. 

“Oh, I’ve actually changed it more recently. I go by Quentin now. Quentin Beck.”

Both Stephen and Tony stiffened at hearing that. This was the Beck who was competing against them with getting Peter. Tony had hoped he wouldn’t see the man, so that there was no face to the name. It would make it easier. But, here he was, right in front of them. When neither of the husbands spoke, Beck stepped in. 

“So, are you looking for a Little? Gonna settle in finally?” The man asked with a sly-looking smile.

Tony felt his eyes slender out, his face hardening into a challenging sneer. Someone must have told him. Beck knew just what he was doing.

“We’re actually already decided on one, he’s got a room and everything. I’m sure celebratory ice cream will be in order after the auction.” Tony threatened, and Beck laughed at that. 

“Don’t play that game with me, Stark. You know I’m always one step ahead of you, and I’m willing to pull out all the stops for this one.”

Tony snorted defensively. He wasn’t going to reveal anything to him. Still, Beck’s hint that he knew that they were pursuing Peter as well made him a bit sick. 

“Honestly, I’m just here with my husband to have a fun evening. Whatever game you think is going on, is just in your head.” 

Stepping a bit aside, Stephen thanked the bartender when he came with their drinks. Taking his own, Stephen handed Tony his. Beck turned on his heels, a defiant sneer evident on his face.

“Oh, God.” Stephen exclaimed. “How much money has he made since he worked for you? That suit had to be close if not just as much as ours were. Tony, we could lose this.”

“Don’t worry, babe, it’ll all be all right. That man’s a coward, a right coward, I tell you. We aren’t going to let him get into out heads, just focus on Peter. That’s the endgame.”

Stephen tried to calm his nerves with his drink, but what worked the best was actually just being close to his husband. So that’s where they stayed, sat by the bar together keeping each other company and exchanging a few comforting kisses. 

A loud tapping sound echoed over the speakers from the stage and caught everyone’s attention. All eyes turned to the stage where a young man and woman were stood with microphones in hand. It was showtime. The auction began, running rather smoothly despite the earlier confrontation.

Finally, all of the low price range Littles had either been bought or would remain at the Center for another term, and the high priced ones were beginning to be called off.  
It was pretty easy to see how the prices of the Littles were determined, all of them being attractive boys and girls with good behavioural records and manageable health. But, none of them could compare to the last picture of the night to appear on the screen. The highest starting price of the auction.

Peter.

“And we start at the usual 50k for Group C Littles. Anyone for 55k?” The male auctioneer started to get the crowd rallied up for the last Littles of the night. 

Stephen and Tony didn’t take the 55k, and instead let another female caregiver somewhere to their left take it. But, they did push for the 60k, and predictably, they heard Beck push with 80k. Tony knew that was coming and raised his voice to be heard over the shocked gasps that Beck’s offer had caused to spread around the crowd.

“90!” Tony shouted.

The room stilled, many people murmuring to each other about the amount of money these men were willing to shell out.

“The price to beat is 90k, folks, 90k! Do I hear 95?”  
“95!” Beck shouted out of his seat.

“100!” Stephen countered, not even bothering to look at his husband to confirm that the raise was okay. He knew Tony was on the same page as him. Nobody was about to take their baby from them.

“A- A- A hundred thousand dollars is the price, folks! Do I hear two hundred?” The male auctioneer stumbled. Both men stared questioningly at Beck, who slowly sat back in his seat.

“Two hundred going once, going twice! SOLD to the men in seats 247 and 248!”

The applause was filled with both shock and admiration, the husbands could sense it. But mostly they were too caught up with one another and their passionate kissing to really pay attention to anyone else. They had heard the magic words already, and nothing mattered anymore besides the fact that Peter was theirs. 

“We’ll have to sell one of the Audis.” Stephen chuckled a little tearily.

“We’ve got four, I think we’ll manage.” Tony laughed in return. “It’s a good thing we already got a carseat, though.”

A worker came over to them, shuffling the husbands backstage as they made meaningless small talk regarding the Little. No, Peter wasn’t going to have brothers or sisters. Yes, they had already Little-proofed the house. No, there wasn’t a plan made for a nanny yet. So on and so forth.

Meanwhile, backstage, Peter was bored out of his mind. He hated the auctions, since it just involved sitting around and waiting. He didn’t get his hopes up, and instead prepared himself for Beck to buy him. He also prepared to be brought back to the Center in a week. Perhaps Flash would be gone by then. That would be nice. Just like the rest of the Littles, Peter was keeping himself busy by drawing quietly. He picked up a blue crayon, but he didn’t get to use it before James called his name. 

“Come on. You’ve been chosen.” He said with a smile. Peter tensed at the sentence, before hanging his head down low and taking James’ hand. The man lectured him on the way down the hall to the collection station, where Peter could already see a few other Littles being handed over to their new Caregivers. “Now, I need you to behave like a good boy, okay? Just sit still and be quiet. You know the drill.”

Peter nodded, before noticing that they had already reached the station. The boy was picked up by Nichole, who carried him towards his buyers for the final signing. While Nichole held Peter, James went ahead and led the way to the station with a stack of papers in his hand. 

Peter felt his heart leap with both joy and fear at seeing Stephen and Tony. He was so excited to sleep in a proper bed, to get away from all the nasty Littles and grown ups, and to just live a proper life. And yet, that was all stained with fear of it all just being a temporary thing. Some part of him was positive he’d be sleeping next to Flash again and getting peed on within a week.

“Peter!” Tony shouted, running towards the boy with his husband in tow. “Hi, baby! Are you ready to come home?”

The Little nodded shyly, squirming in Nichole’s arms as he waited to be handed over. 

“No, Peter, be nice now.” The woman told him.

Stephen reached out, though, giving Peter a quick high five to make the wait a little less painful, before taking the final paperwork and shuffling through his pockets for a pen. After signing their names and making the transfers, Tony and Stephen watched James confirm with his boss that the adoption was complete. 

“Okay, thanks.” James smiled politely to his boss, then headed over to the husbands again. “Well, congratulations! He’s yours.” 

Both Stephen and Tony gasped in adoration and Stephen carefully took the boy from Nichole’s arms. The doctor gave the boy a tight hug, but didn’t hold him too long to avoid overwhelming him. He still had to hug Tony as well, after all.

The two men were free birds, now. They had a Little all their own and a lot of love to give him.

“Hey, Petey, guess what?” Tony asked the boy as they walked out of the building. Peter looked up at him. 

“What?” 

“We’re gonna go for ice cream!” He said excitedly. Peter began smiling so widely, his little body bouncing up and down as Stephen struggled to keep him still in his arms.

“But, first, we have to take you to the doctor.”

“We go see Brucie?” Peter asked, still thinking that Stephen and Bruce knew one another.

“No, bud, we’re gonna see a friend of mine. Her name’s Christine and she knows how to take care of littles ones like you. We have an appointment first thing tomorrow.” The doctor said and tapped the boy’s nose. Peter seemed a bit startled by that, and Stephen regretted doing that right away. Jeez, they hadn’t even had the boy for five minutes and Stephen was already screwing up?

Peter rubbed at the spot Stephen had touched, looking a little bit scared, before making eye contact with the man once again, and echoed the motion. When Stephen gave an encouraging smile, though, Peter had an even better idea. He gestured to Tony, making grabby hands in the CEO’s direction.

“What? You want me?” Tony asked. Peter nodded, before being handed over. The boy stared at the grownup for a moment, before giving Tony a gentle boop and breaking out into giggles. Tony laughed along with Peter and squished the boy gently to his side while they walked through the parking lot to their car. “Oh, you’re a funny one, huh?” Tony laughed and tapped Peter’s nose back, smiling widely when the boy giggled again. The sound was so angelic that Tony felt a bit dizzy. He adored the boy so much already. 

“We got you a new carseat and everything. Isn’t that cool?” Stephen said and opened the back door to show the Little carseat. It was a dark blue, to match the leather of the rest of the seats in the car. It had headrests on both sides so Peter wouldn’t hurt his neck while sleeping in the car.

“I can keep it?” Peter asked, staring at the immaculate detailing. 

“Yeah, Pete, it’s your seat.” Stephen reminded, helping his husband to secure the many locks and belts that would keep Peter from leaving the seat.

“Okay, got it. My seat.” The boy agreed. They began driving home, taking off through the many high-rise buildings of upper manhattan and taking the shortcuts, hoping the Little in the back wouldn’t fall asleep before then, so they could do the grand tour in just a short few hours.

Of course, Tony tried to play the fun guy and get Peter interested in a game of ‘I Spy’, but the boy was much more interested in the spying itself, seemingly entranced as he watched the buildings fly by.

Whenever Peter got too excited about everything, his mind would remind him of what happened last time. But then, he’d see something interesting again and forget about his worries, and so the cycle went on through the whole drive. Before Peter knew what was happening, they headed down to an underground parking lot under a large building. All the boy could see was concrete and the icy blue lights above that illuminated the huge space. All the cars looked so glossy and shiny that they almost looked wet. They came to a stop, and for a moment Peter panicked when he was left alone in the car. Then, the car door opened at his side and Stephen appeared.

“Ready to go in, baby?” He asked, undoing the buckles on the carseat. Peter nodded, making himself a little sick with worry as he realised that this was all real. The Stark-Stranges weren’t just an interested couple from the Center anymore, they had taken him home.

Whether or not it would be for good was the question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you sm for reading! So, Peter’s out of the system, but it is for good? In the next one, we’ll see how Peter’s first day with his new caregivers goes...


	5. The First Night And Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter’s first day and night with his new Daddies.

The first night was a lot. After getting a tour around the massive penthouse apartment, Peter got to spend some time alone in his room. His room, with his bed, his bookshelf, his shelves, his closet, his chair and all the rest. It was all his. 

The sudden spike in the possessions he had made Peter a bit overwhelmed, and so he went around his room studying everything that was his now to get familiar with it. 

Meanwhile, the Daddies made dinner, and even though to them the spagetti and meat sauce seem like a decent enough amount for all of them, Peter got a stomach ache from eating so much. Stephen had to resign to abandoning his food and holding the boy on his lap, gently rubbing the pained area and palpating where necessary to check that there wasn’t a bigger problem. The doctor was a little concerned at the way Peter’s face twisted and squeezed in pain, but the boy never seemed to cry. Almost as though he was afraid to do so.

“How about we lay down? Do you want to watch a movie?” Stephen asked. Peter very much liked that idea, but when the doctor carried him over to a shelf with a large collection of DVDs, Peter once more got overwhelmed. There was simply too many to choose from, and the bright colours of the fonts on the boxes blurred in Peter’s eyes. 

“How about I pick? Is that okay?” Tony asked, and Peter nodded once more. 

The CEO had picked Toy Story, but Peter barely paid attention to it. He was way too preoccupied with his still aching tummy, although Stephen was still rubbing it nicely. Suddenly, Peter lurched forward, a wave of nausea overtaking the Little as he struggled to maintain composure. Catching on, Stephen lifted the boy in a rush, carrying him straight to the bathroom and resting his hands in Peter’s hair.

“Bubba? You okay?” The doctor asked while Peter continued to gag and began crying. Getting Peter onto his knees in front of the toilet, Stephen brushed back the boy’s hair to feel for a fever. After a few more gags, Peter finally threw up and did so multiple times before he managed to pause for a bit. 

“Oh, sweet darling, I’m so sorry...” Stephen cooed from behind Peter, then he called out to his husband to get the boy a glass of water. Tony arrived just a few moments later and felt his heart ache at the sight of Peter crying and drooling into the toilet. As the boy finished, he collapsed backwards and fell into Stephen’s chest, panting through the tears.

“It’s okay, Petey, it’s all right. Here, look, I’m smiling! See that? See? If I’m smiling then that means you’re okay, yeah?” The doctor attempted. Peter looked up to the man, locking eyes as he realised that though the man was smiling, it was pained and fake. Stephen was sad. Peter didn’t want Stephen to be sad.

“Dada...” He cried, his sobs growing louder.

Stephen wanted to be delighted at being called ‘Dada’ on the first night, but his joy was quickly masked over my worry for the state the boy was in. 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Stephen rushed a bit and tried to stroke Peter’s hair to comfort him, but the boy was squirming and shivering so much that he couldn’t stay still. “Peter- baby.” 

But, Peter was already out of his arms. The boy was shaky on his legs, and luckily Tony caught him and steadied him. When the boy burped a bit, Tony quickly guided him back to the toilet for round two. Peter cried through it all. 

“Is he sick or what?” Tony asked Stephen worriedly. 

“Well, if it was the food, we’d all be sick. He doesn’t have a fever so. I guess- it’s just nerves.”

“Poor baby.” Tony cooed, rubbing his Little’s back in soothing circular motions.  
The two men continued in their attempts to calm the boy down, offering hugs or a nice bath. Peter didn’t seem to even hear them, though. He just cried. And cried some more. And soon Peter was crying so much that neither grown up was sure that he wouldn’t be dehydrated once he stopped.

The only thing that made Peter settle was curling up with a towel wrapped around him on the bathroom tile floor. The Daddies weren’t allowed near him, so they sat against the wall and just let the boy be. Eventually, the tears turned to more quiet sniffles, so Stephen dared to inch forward to stroke the boy’s hair. Peter let him do that, but he didn’t make any conversation still, just sniffled now and then quietly.

“Hey, hey, buddy. What’s wrong, huh? What’s got you all fussy now?” Stephen tried asking, giving a little tickle to Peter’s tummy to lighten the boy’s spirits. Peter sniffled again, before muttering quietly. 

“Good boy, Dada.”

Tony came closer, then, picking the boy up and settling him cradled in his lap. 

“You’re a very good boy, baby.” He explained. “Dada knows that.”

“Papa too?” Peter asked, eyes wide with curiosity in the way only a Little’s could.

“Yeah, of course!” Tony said brightly, grinning widely at being called ‘Papa’. He hugged Peter gently while he was still half wrapped up in the towel. More or less content with knowing he was good, Peter rubbed at his eyes with a yawn. After just a few minutes in Tony’s arms, Peter fell asleep. The husbands sighed in unison. 

“Not exactly as I envisioned our first night together.” Stephen said softly as not to disturb Peter.

“At least he’s ours.” Tony commended. “That’s all he has to be.”

The morning came bright and early for Stephen and Tony. At around 6 am, they heard gentle noises coming through the baby monitor that sat in their room. Both men walked calmly to Peter’s bedroom, careful not to step too loudly as to scare the boy who still wasn’t used to the new environment.

“Hi, Petey!” Stephen greeted, still whispering. Peter was sat up in his toddler bed, eyes bloodshot and droopy. He’d had a nightmare after last night, remembering the events of his short-term Mommy. That was to be expected, the boy assumed, since that was all he could think about lately.

“Hello, good morning!” Tony whispered excitedly and came forward to lift Peter up from his bed. The boy stiffened a bit at first, like he didn’t know what to do with his body, but Tony set him on his hip comfortably. Peter met his eyes a few times, but quickly looked away shyly. 

“How are you, baby? Are you feeling better? You had a rough night last night.” Stephen said and leaned over to kiss the boy’s forehead.

“Mhm.” Peter nodded, reaching forward to twirl Tony’s hair aimlessly. The CEO wondered why he couldn’t play with his own hair, but didn’t bother to ask, rather enjoying the gentle motions. Setting the boy on the ground for a moment, Tony held his Little still while Stephen sifted through the closet to grab Peter a nice outfit for the day. Since they were seeing a friend of his, Stephen chose Peter’s outfit carefully. He finally decided on a soft button up shirt and then some denim overalls with paw prints on the knees. 

“You’re going to look so handsome for Christine. She’ll be super impressed.” Stephen said as he worked together with Tony to get Peter dressed. 

“Who’s that?” The boy asked. 

“Christine’s a doctor and we’re seeing her in a few hours. She’s a good friend of mine too.”

Peter tensed. Oh, right. They were going to see a doctor today. A doctor that wasn’t Brucie. A stranger.

“Do I gotta go?” Peter asked. 

“Yeah, bubs, you do. We just want to make sure you’re all healthy, yeah? Then we’ll go for lunch and get ice cream.” Tony insisted.

They quickly took Peter to the kitchen, where the boy was fed a small bowl of yogurt, before double-checking that his tummy wasn’t going to get upset again from the new food, and strapping Peter back into his carseat for the ride.

Peter’s mind was running at the same speed as the car. Thoughts and feelings were flying by so fast that Peter barely had time to even name each one before it escalated into something else. Would this new doctor be kind? Or would she be like all the other grown ups at the Center? Was he allowed to cry? Was he expected to cry? But, most importantly, would the Daddies still want his after this? 

Peter never quite understood how, but Brucie was able to tell a lot about his body by just doing a few things to him. The doctor had been very good at explaining, which was one of the reasons why Peter liked him. Maybe this new doctor would find something that would make the Daddies want to return him.

“Petey, we’re here.” Stephen’s voice echoed above Peter’s thoughts.

Sure enough, the boy noticed that the car had stopped in front of a pretty building, the outside walls painted a gentle lavender shade. ‘Christine Palmer, Paediatrician and Little Specialist’ was written across the door. It looked like a building where a nice person must work, but something about it still made Peter uneasy.

“Look, what’s that?” Tony asked him as he carried Peter in and through the door. There was a big teddy bear sitting in the waiting area, with a bright red bow around his neck. He had to be a bajillion feet tall, maybe more, and was about the coolest thing Peter had ever seen.

“You want to go check the bear out while I get us checked in, baby?” Stephen asked. Peter stalled a little, glancing between his new Dada and the bear. He didn’t want Stephen to leave him, less the man run off and never come back, but he really wanted to see that bear up close.

“Lets go while Dada sorts us out.” Tony decided for Peter when he seemed stuck on his two options. Hand in hand with Tony, Peter inched closer to the enormous bear. It was so big that its black nose was above Peter’s head. The boy had to tilt his head back to see the bear fully. Peter was too stunned to speak, and squeaked a bit when Tony crouched down next to him. “He looks friendly. I bet he’s here to welcome everyone who comes in here. What do you think?” Tony asked the boy and rubbed his back.

Peter smiled and nodded, slowly reaching forward to run the bear’s fur. He stopped, though, and turned to watch Tony for a reaction. When all he received was an encouraging nod towards the bear, Peter went for it, petting the animal as much as he could and relished in the smooth texture.Once he was satisfied, the boy looked up to his Papa in delight and giggled. 

“Here, buddy.” The man said. “You need to clean your hands off now.” Tony offered the Little a wet wipe, and helped Peter to thoroughly clean his hands as Stephen walked back towards them with some of Peter’s first-checkup paperwork.

Peter kept his nose out of the paperwork. That was something only grown ups got to look at, and so Peter busied himself with watching his new shoes as he swinged his feet back and forth under the chair. A bit after Stephen had returned the paperwork, their names were called, or at least Stephen and Tony’s, but Peter followed them dutifully nonetheless. His heart rate did pick up however when they passed an open door and Peter got a glimpse of a doctor sat by a desk. If they return him to the Center, he can at least see Brucie again. That wouldn’t be so bad.

“Hand?” Tony asked, offering his to Peter. The boy took it, allowing the little group to pick up the pace some.

Approaching another open door, the party took their entrance, and the nursing assistant who had brought them in asked that Peter be on the exam table by the time the doctor came in, and that his clothes be removed, save for the pull-up, of course, so that they could start off by getting the scary stuff out of the way. Peter wasn’t sure what that meant, but he knew it couldn’t be fun. He wanted Brucie. He didn’t want to see a new doctor.

But, this was his Dada’s friend. He had to be nice to her. He had to be good. Then, he could stay at his new house with his new room and they could go eat ice cream after. He wouldn’t get peed on at bedtime or given a spanking for crying or anything else he didn’t like ever again. He just had to be good during this, and then all would be saved. 

“Hi, hello!” A bright voice announced and Stephen headed over to embrace the woman who had entered. He even added a kiss to her cheek, but Tony didn’t react poorly to that. He knew how Stephen and Christine were close friends, and he wasn’t getting in between that. 

“Hey, you look great.” Stephen gushed and Tony also quickly joined in on the greetings. 

Peter let the grown ups be and kept his eyes down. But, then he saw a pair of sneakers enter his range of view, and he slowly lifted his head to look at the doctor.

“And you must be the little guy I’ve heard so much about!” Christine cooed, coming over towards Peter. The boy gave her a shy smile and a finger wave, hoping that was a passable greeting. Seen, not heard. “What’s your favourite colour, Peter? Hm? We can get you whatever colour equipment you want for the checkup. Just to make it a little less scary, yeah?” Christine asked. 

Peter shrugged. He didn’t know he was supposed to have a favourite colour. Should he have a favourite of everything?

“Uhm- blue?” Peter suggested, but only because this doctor’s clothes were blue. 

And Christine did keep her promise and Peter was surprised to see that whatever equipment she pulled out was actually blue. The boy couldn’t help but wonder why Brucie didn’t seem to have this magic. Peter was familiar with most of the steps, since Bruce had done the same ones to him over the years, but having a stranger do them still felt odd. So, the most familiar part where he’d get his chest examined, was actually the worst.

“You have to calm down, Peter. I need to know how your breathing sounds when you’re happy, yeah? Here, try looking at one of your Daddies.”

Peter frantically looked to Tony, a curious expression lingering on his face as to what could possibly be so interesting. Then, when his eyes got there, he understood. His Papa was making the silliest of faces, sticking his tongue out and crossing his eyes. Peter giggled at the sight, finding it very funny that Papa was messing around like that just to make him stop panicking.

“Okay, kiddo, stop laughing. Let Christine check your lungs.” Stephen interjected, having been struggling the whole time to not stand up and do the checkup himself.

“Okay, deep breaths now, sweetheart.” Christine instructed and took her blue stethoscope to listen to Peter’s lungs. The boy knew the drill, but when the doctor urged him to breathe even deeper, he ended up coughing. It was a dry cough, and one that made Peter’s eyes water a bit, but he pulled himself together. However, when he looked up, all the grown ups around him were clearly worried. 

“I’m- I’m sorry.” Peter whimpered, thinking he had misbehaved. He squirmed away from Christine, bringing his knees up and twisting around on the exam table so that he could scramble back. This was it. He’d be dumped tomorrow, he was sure of it. Peter knew he wasn’t supposed to be a crybaby. He knew he was supposed to be a big boy and keep it together, but he lost control the minute Christine tried to reach for him. “Dada! Papa!” He cried, screaming at the top of his lungs as the sobs picked up and his coughing resumed, getting worse and worse with each breath.

“It’s okay, little one, it’s okay.” Stephen quelled, “Just calm down, all right? You want Papa to make the funny faces again? Is that it? Please, baby, don’t do this to me.” He begged.

Peter continued the tirade, now squirming relentlessly, not even acknowledging when Tony’s face appeared in front of his, making the same motions it had only a few minutes before. For a moment, Peter was able to focus on Tony’s funny grimaces, but his little lungs had some other plans. He continued to cough, and even wheezed a bit with a few inhales. Before he knew what was happening, Christine was by his side again and pressed a mask to his face. 

“Just breathe, honey, it’s okay.” 

It was an inhaler with a spacer, so that Peter would just breathe normally and get the medication into his lungs without having to work the inhaler himself. The boy recognised the smell and taste of the medicine, and so he settled a bit. It was oddly comforting, but what he didn’t like was Christine brushing the hair at the back of his head. He’d much rather one of his Daddies do it, which surprised him.

Peter made desperate grabby hands at his Dada, waiting patiently as the man came by and helped him to lay down on the table, rubbing his bare tummy and brushing his hair at the same time. Peter didn’t think he could have done both of those at once. Maybe his Dada was a wizard. Yeah, that was a silly thought. Much happier than his earlier panic.

“What happened with him?” Tony asked, watching as the mask Christine was holding to Peter’s face fogged up over and over again. 

“Oh, I think he just got upset by the cough and then worked himself up to an asthma attack. He’s young, there’s always the risk of them freaking out with these appointments, you know.” Christine explained.

Peter wanted to tell her that, no, the appointment itself was not what scared him. He was a big boy and didn’t get scared by things like that. But, he kept that to himself as to not get in any more trouble than he was probably already in.

“How about we stay here for a bit? You just relax, baby.” Stephen cooed as he took over with holding the inhaler and spacer with the mask to Peter’s face so that he would inhale all the medication. Once Stephen was sure he had, he handed the device back to Christine with a ‘thank you’. With the mask off of his face, Peter wanted to sit up, but Stephen pushed him back down. “No, no. You stay there. Just relax for us.” 

The asthma attack had worn Peter out, so he didn’t have a hard time giving into Stephen’s order. Still, the boy was a bit upset to see that Christine wasn’t done with him yet, because now she was touching his stomach.

“Here, buddy, can you tell me if anything hurts?” She requested, palpating around Peter’s abdomen with just enough pressure to guarantee that the boy would still have a physical reaction if he decided not to tell her. After all, Littles couldn’t very well be trusted to always be helpful. 

Peter squirmed a little when she pressed near his bladder, but that was only because he had yet to go potty today. When were his Daddies going to take him for a bathroom break? They hadn’t explained a schedule yet.

“Hmm, we’ll let you go potty in a cup soon.” Christine comforted, but Peter only grew more anxious at that. He’d peed in a cup for Bruce before, with the doctor in the room, and the embarrassment from that still lingered. So, he wasn’t exactly ecstatic to hear that he’d have to do it again. But, he tried his hardest to keep all that to himself. Seen, not heard. “Okay, you can sit up now, handsome. You’ve been so brave.” Christine praised and helped Peter to sit up. Stephen came up again to hold the boy to his side. 

“So, he’s all good? But, you’ll do a urine and blood test, right?”

“Yeah, definitely. And I want to send a referral to have his lungs x-rayed and get him a new prescription for his asthma. The inhaler he has isn’t enough, so he needs something stronger for sure.”

Peter looked between the two doctors, noticing how Stephen wasn’t the one doing his checkup for the first time. Why was that? Maybe his Dada didn’t know how to take care of him, but that would be silly. Weren’t all doctors the same?

“Okay, little guy, why don’t you and your Daddies go into that room right there, yeah?” Christine asked, pointing to where a door with ‘Family Restroom’ written on a sign was. “Then, your Daddies can help you go potty, and we’ll get everything taken care of, okay?”  
Peter nodded, assuming that wasn’t really an option as much as an order, and let his Dada lift him off of the table. He was still in just a pull-up, though, so this couldn’t take too long.

It took way too long. Even though Peter hadn’t peed that morning yet, he was all clamped up and it took way too long for him to finally pee in the cup. Once he did, he was so worked up that he started crying again. Even Christine saw him crying when his Papa carried him out and the tears started falling even more intensely when Peter realised he’d screwed up. Again. 

“Just take him down the hall to the lab. I wouldn’t want to stretch this out for him more than strictly necessary.” Christine said with a sad smile. Stephen thanked her and gave her another cheek kiss before following Tony down the hall.

“Hey, good boy, good boy.” Tony mumbled, resting his lips against Peter’s forehead so that the bot could head the words.

Peter didn’t believe him. He wasn’t a good boy, he couldn’t be. The grownups were lying to him. That’s all grownups ever do. They lie, and then they leave.

Walking into the lab, Peter noticed that his head was going all thumpy from the crying, and his heart was starting to hurt. He debated telling a grownup, but decided against it.  
He was already a bad boy. And since he already was a bad boy, he didn’t think he deserved the numbing cream that the nurse put on the crook of his elbow. He deserved the pain, and so he still cried even when his arm was numb and he didn’t feel the needle puncturing his skin. At this point, he was just punishing himself, and he mumbled over and over how he was a bad boy. 

“Baby, baby, what are you saying?” Tony asked worriedly. Meanwhile, the nurse switched out the first vial when it got filled up, and then put in a second one. Peter tried very hard to keep his arm still despite his sobs and hiccups.

“Bad boy, Papa. I-I sorry.” Peter responded, locking eyes with the CEO for a few moments, before the tears took over and he could no longer hold his head upright.  
Tony took his free hand, giving a comforting squeeze as he whispered to his husband about the potential of getting a therapist involved. This was beginning to concern him.

“You’re not a bad boy, baby. You’re a good boy, remember? Such a good boy, you’ve been doing so well! Yeah, you’re just the bravest little guy I know, hm?”

Peter cried more at that, confused as to why his Papa kept lying to him.

“N-no-ho...” Peter continued to sob and didn’t even respond to the nurse when she asked him which bandaid he wanted on his arm. She picked the happy looking puppies, but Peter wasn’t comforted in the slightest and kept choking back his sobs when Tony picked up from the blood drawing chair. 

“Shhh, sweetheart, we are done now. It’s all over now. You were so, so brave. Both Dada and I are so impressed with you.” Tony cooed while Stephen paid for the appointment and got Christine’s prescription. 

Peter was fast asleep again, all knocked out from the crying, even before they reached the car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you sm for reading! Poor Petey huh ;-; it’s gonna be a bit rough at first with adjusting to a whole new living situation and such. Let’s hope the rest of the first week goes smoothly, huh?


	6. The First Week l

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some moments from Peter’s first week with his new Daddies.

Peter carried the insulated bag with care and precision. This was Dada’s lunch, after all, and Papa had entrusted the Little to hold it while they drove to Dada’s work. Peter was happy that Tony was taking care of him today, seeing as that meant that he got a cookie with his snack time. What was better than cookies? It had been a full week since the auction, and Peter was very, very happy that he hadn’t been returned. Yet.

After a week, Peter was starting to get used to the routine in this new household. He liked routines, since everything was so heavily scheduled at the Center, so the boy found comfort in being woken up at the same time each morning. But, instead of a harsh bell, Peter was woken up by gentle whispers and kisses. During the first few mornings, he thought he was dreaming still. But, he wasn’t. This was very much real, and Peter carried Dada’s lunch bag carefully. He had even gotten to help a bit and had called for Tony when the timer for the pasta had gone off. They had made Stephen a pasta salad with chicken, and Peter got to taste it a bit too.

That was another thing Peter had learned from his time outside of the center, and that was just how good food could taste. The ice cream he had gotten after the disastrous doctor’s visit was creamy and sweet, and cheeseburgers were thick and sometimes bled a little bit. Peter hoped Dada liked the pasta salad, since he seemed to always try and get him to eat salads. Something about green food being good for him, Peter wasn’t sure.

“Come on, then.” Tony groaned a little playfully while getting Peter out of his carseat in the hospital parking lot. They had parked in the staff lot, which was closer to the entrance, but completely legally. Since they shared all the Audis, Stephen had gotten a sticker on all of them which indicated that he was hospital staff. Small joys in life, Tony thought and fastened Peter’s little backpack on him, then took his hand. “Hold my hand at all times, okay? This is a big and busy place, so we have to make sure we don’t get in anyone’s way.” Tony said and started to lead the way to the entrance.

Peter nodded dutifully, and carefully followed behind his Papa as they walked into the building. In the lobby, the boy took notice of the caregivers holding their littles on leashes, all 5 of which were pulling tightly on them as they tried to run off. The two Mommies, both of which appeared to be tired from the morning they must have had. Peter didn’t like the idea of being on a Little leash, since that sounded kind of dumb, but he supposed it wouldn’t really be up to him if his Daddies wanted to use one on him.

Peter kept his eyes on the two Mommies and their Littles for as long as he could, but then the elevator arrived and opened its door to Tony and Peter. The man pulled him along gently, and the boy tried to forget about the leashes. Instead, he help onto Tony’s hand a little harder. 

“You excited?” Tony asked, and Peter nodded dutifully again, but this time there was more honesty. He was actually excited to see his Dada. This was a great opportunity to be good. Just hanging over a lunch bag, he could handle that. After walking a bit further, they reached what looked like a lounge room. There was a round table with a dozen chairs around, two big sofas and a small kitchen area. There were a few doctors and nurses around and they all greeted Tony. 

“Hey, look, the arm candy husband is here. Stephen will be out in just a bit.” One of the doctors said and greeted Tony with a wave and smile. 

Peter wasn’t sure what that name meant, but he assumed it was a good thing since candy always tastes so good. It didn’t really matter, though, since he now knew his Dada was coming, and that meant he needed to be perfect. The boy straightened his posture, adding a polite smile to his face to show how much he loved his Daddies. He liked to think that he looked very handsome when he was good, although a mirror had never really been provided.  
“Don’t flatter me, please.” His Papa insisted to the doctor who had made the arm candy comment. “Peter here just wanted to bring Dada some lunch. Isn’t that right, baby?”

Peter showed the lunch bag in his hands proudly to the doctors and nurses by the sofas, still smiling sweetly. 

“Aww, that’s so cute.” One of the female nurses said. “What did you make your Daddy?”  
Peter looked up at Tony for permission to speak, and then did so when his Papa nodded encouragingly. 

“Made pasta salad. With chicken and I gotta taste.” The boy said, making the female nurse and her colleague coo. 

“So, how’s business been? Did the little guy take a tool on your bank accounts or what?” One of the male doctors asked Tony cheekily.

The CEO chuckled a little before jokingly asking.

“Guess how much?” 

Many of the grownups erupted into spouting numbers over each other as they laughed and chastised their companions’ guesses. Peter wasn’t sure what was so interesting, but he kept his smile nonetheless and squeezed his Papa’s hand for reassurance, making sure to be very brave. Finally, Tony stepped in. 

“You all think to low of me.” He said. “100k.” 

Most of the grownups gasped, others just stood with their jaws hanging open to the point that they must have been touching the floor. Peter didn’t really get their surprise. Weren’t all Littles expensive? He couldn’t be sure. Of course, the boy knew that he was a lot of money, that’s what Group C was all about, but money in itself was too foreign a concept for him to understand why they were so shocked.

“My God, he must be perfect then.” One of the male nurses said and studied Peter even closer than he had done the first time Tony brought Peter to Stephen’s work. 

“He is.” Tony confirmed and stroked back the boy’s hair. Peter felt his heart swell at that, and grinned widely while his cheeks began blushing a deep pink. 

“No complications, no behavioural issues, no nothing?” The male doctor asked. 

“Well, just some asthma, but that’s about it. He’s been absolutely wonderful to have. Worth every penny. But, we did have to sell one of the Audis.” One of the doctors chuckled at Tony’s admittance. 

“You wanna give my two girls a lesson, Petey?” The doctor asked. Peter only smiled and looked back to his Papa, waiting for a signal of what to do now that everybody was ‘ooing’ and ‘ahhhing’ over him. The objectification was nothing new, just strange when laid on so thickly. Peter nodded after Tony prompted him to respond, but he wasn’t sure if that was the right one. The other hospital staff seemed humoured though so Peter laughed lightly with them. Then, door to the lounge opened and Stephen entered with a tired smile. 

“There he is. My star-surgeon.” Tony cooed and invited Stephen in for a kiss. Then, the doctor bent down to see the boy. 

“Hey, did you bring me lunch again? My gosh, you’re just the sweetest.” Stephen said and took the bag from Peter. The boy followed his Dada to the small kitchen area, eager to see if he liked the pasta salad he had worked so hard on. After settling down, Stephen took a few bites of the salad, before smiling widely and opening his arms for his Little. “Very yummy, baby, thank you.” He claimed.

Peter giggled, snuggling into his Dada’s arms as he gave a gentle eskimo kiss. Their noses rubbed closely, either one of them closing their eyes and enjoying the warmth of the other. Tony also joined them by the table and started making small talk with his husband. Usually, Peter found grown up talk to be incredibly dull, but this time he didn’t mind it. He actually quite liked listening to the Daddies talk to one another so fondly and affectionately. And even better, now and then they also asked for his input, although he was mostly asked to agree. The boy was happy to do so, to be included, and twice he was rewarded by getting bites of Stephen’s food.

“What are you two love bugs thinking of doing after this?” Stephen asked, giving a little tickle on Peter’s tummy.

“Oh, I promised him a trip to the park. You’ve seen that new playground, yeah? Gosh, I just don’t know how I’m meant to live until I get some pictures of Peter in that little swing.” Peter smiled at hearing his name, but he didn’t entirely follow. Pictures? What pictures? 

“You wanna swing, bub?” His Dada asked, petting his hair back and twirling his fingers through the loose curls. They needed to get the boy a haircut.

“Hm!” Peter answered automatically, but then actually realised that he really did want to swing. It was like he was still waiting for something horrible to happen, something that he’d just have to power through. But, this whole week had overall been very pleasant. Peter liked them, he really did. And for them to keep him, he’d have to continue to behave well. 

“Thank you so much for bringing me lunch, you two.” Stephen thanked when he finished his food, kissing both his husband and his Little. Peter smiled widely, and kept thinking of how he must have scored some good boy points already.

The two of then left the room, finally. Peter was asked to personally say goodbye to all of his Dada’s friends, which made him feel a little funny since they were still strangers in every right. He passed by the two Mommies in the lobby again, too. Their littles were snivelling and sitting on either the floor or a lap, all of them a little teary-eyed. Peter hoped they weren’t sad, but he could only assume that someone must have gotten the group in trouble. He was a good boy. He wouldn’t fall for the same grown up tricks.

Tony decided that they should head to the park first, so that Peter could tire himself out and not whine in the shop later. They still had a few things to get for Peter’s room, including a brighter nightlight and an extra pillow case. The boy needed another since it had been three nights in a row now that Peter had bumped his head against the side rail. They would definitely need an extra pillow there. 

“Okay, bud, we have to agree on some rules before you head in.” Tony started when they reached the park. “First off, stay on the playground. Don’t run off so I can’t see you. Second, be polite with the others. And third, have fun, okay?”

“Yes, Papa.” Peter promised. Tony smiled, releasing the boy from his hold and allowing him to run ofd towards the playground. Tony sat down where a few other caregivers had taken up camp at a bench, mostly cooing over each one’s Littles. He joined the conversation, deciding it would be a good use of his time.

Just like running around at the Center playground, running around at the park made Peter feel like he could breathe finally. As lovely as the week had been, he felt like there were constantly thunder clouds in the horizon, ready to take it all away. For now, it was sunny, and he was happy, but how long would that last? He didn’t know, and the anticipation of it all was tiring Peter out mentally. Physically though, he still had energy to burn off, and so he ran around, making sure to stay within the playground perimeter.

“Baby! Come here!” Peter heard his Papa cry, signalling him over with a hand wave. Peter ran back, jumping into Tony’s arms when requested to do so. The man carried him towards a large swing set, one that would undeniably tower over the pitiful thing Peter had played on at the center. “Here, handsome, you sit still on the swing and let Papa get some pictures, yeah? Good boy.”

Peter knew how to smile on cue, but how genuine that smile was, that was debatable. But, then Tony started saying all sorts of praise to him, and Peter found himself cracking up for real.

“Who’s the most handsome prince, huh? That’s you! Come on, let me see that big smile. Handsome boy, you’re so pretty!” Tony gushed and grinned himself when he knew he had gotten some good pictures.

“Papa! You’re silly!” Peter giggled, kicking his feet lightly as his face fell from the smile. 

“Ah, ah, ah, Little one. Come one. Give Papa that pretty smile again!” Tony cheered.

The boy froze. Had he been bad? Was he not supposed to be having fun?  
This was it. Papa was going to take him back because he couldn’t listen and he would never leave the Center again.

“Hey, what’s with the frown?” Tony asked and paused with the photos when Peter looked so glum. Peter didn’t answer and just looked at his new white Nike sneakers. Seen, not heard. If he was just seen, they’d keep him. He just had to behave. “Petey, baby, what’s up?” Tony asked again, pocketing his phone to pick up the boy. He gave Peter a big kiss on his cheek to hope to get some truth out of the boy, but it didn’t help.

Peter's eyes slowly welled up with tears, his eyelashes sticking together as he fought back not to let the waterworks begin. Here they go again, Peter thought as Tony hugged him tighter. The man started walking, but Peter didn’t look where since he was too busy hiding the fact that he was being such a crybaby. 

“Shh, it’s okay, buddy. Just cry it out.” Tony encouraged, although he didn’t know what Peter was upset about. It could be anything really, and it was no surprise since his life was basically flipped around a week ago.

Peter wasn’t calming down, though, as was made evident by the hoards of tears and the swift flow of snot that was beginning to come out of the Little’s nose. The man sifted through his pockets, finding his handkerchief, and pressed it gently to Peter’s face, wiping the mess of. It didn’t help much, since the boy wasn’t slowing, but Tony could have sworn he saw Peter blink at the object.

“Buddy?” The man asked as they neared the car. “Can you tell me what’s wrong? Please? Papa can’t fix it if you don’t talk, baby boy.”

Peter started shaking, his body physically convulsing with each breath as the boy struggled to decide what to do. Seen, not heard. But... if Papa wanted him to talk? This was too much for his little head to handle. So, Peter cried, at least for a bit longer till he tired himself out. They had made it back to the car by now, and Peter was sat in his cat seat, but not strapped in. Tony was next to him in the back, looking at him worriedly. After a few sips from his water bottle, Peter managed to find his voice again and answer his Papa’s questions. 

“I dunno... I- just cry- and- and I tried to- to stop. I pr-promise.” The boy stuttered out between small gasps of breaths. He wasn’t crying any longer, but he still had to catch his breath a bit. Tony sighed, wrapping his hand around the baby’s cheek. 

“Poor thing...” He muttered, leaning in and giving his Little a well-needed hug. “It’s okay. You’re Papa’s good boy, aren’t you?” Tony asked. 

Peter stressed more at this. Grownups always ask tricky questions, was this one of them Grownups lie, he reminded himself, they lie and then they leave. Peter didn’t want his Papa to leave. Not never ever. He loved his Daddies; whether or not they loved him was the question. Although Tony had reassured Peter as much as he could, the problem didn’t seem to let itself be resolved. 

“Lets just go home, baby.” Tony decided and started buckling Peter into his cat seat, adding a kiss to the boy’s forehead once he was done. “We’ll have a snack at home and then do something fun. All right?” 

Peter nodded at that, and felt a bit better when Tony seemed pleased with his response. Perhaps he was doing something right so that all was not lost.

About half way to home, Peter finally stopped crying. His face, still covered in dried up tears and a little bit of dirt from the playground, had stopped quivering and shaking for the moment to allow him composure. Looking up, the boy noticed his Papa in the reflection of the overhead mirror. The man kept glancing up at something, almost as though... It was at that moment Peter took notice to the two mirrors fixated around him, one in front of his face and one above his head. Reflecting one another, right into the view of Papa’s mirror.

The boy squirmed visibly at realising he had been watched this whole time. Originally, he had thought the back of the car allowed him some privacy, but that was all a facade it seemed. It wasn’t that the boy wasn’t uses to be watched, because he was all the time at the Center, but then he knew of it. Now it came a bit suddenly, but the boy composed himself once again. 

“You okay, baby? Still got some icky feelings?” Tony asked him kindly, but Peter wondered if he did admit to having icky feelings, he’d get punished for having those feelings.

“Fine.” Peter muttered, wiggling down into his seat as he readjusted his gaze towards the window. They were in a residential district now, though not their own. The boy could only assume that his Papa was taking a shortcut. Tony hummed, and reached back to gently run Peter’s knee in a soothing motion. 

“I love you, baby. You know that?” He cooed, trying desperately to quell the clearly still upset Little.

Did Peter know that? Sure, they had been kind with his this week, but they also did so many things that confused him. On top of it all, he was still waiting for that thunder storm to finally arrive, and the anticipation was killing him. 

They made it back home, and after all the excitement with bringing Stephen lunch and the park, Peter was quiet and compliant. He was very happy to just lay on the sofa, watching a movie while Tony prepared him a snack. After nearly watching the entirety of Ella Enchanted and maybe or maybe not crying a little bit when Ella nearly killed Prince Char, Tony took notice to the way that his Little was going limp, eyes nearly latched shut from the tiredness of the afternoon.

“It’s okay, baby, you go night-night. Papa will be right here when you wake up.” He assured the drowsy boy.

At first, Peter thought that he’d have to get up to his room to nap, but then Tony did something that confused him once more. He put a blanket on top of him where he lay. Perhaps that meant this sofa was part his too. Peter smiled tiredly at the thought, but he didn’t get to ponder on the matter more before he gave into his exhaustion and fell asleep on his front.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you sm for reading! Peter’s having a tough time huh?🥺💓


	7. The First Week ll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: corporal punishment and holding  
> It is not excessive, but the Daddies do hold Peter down here. We are not endorsing this as an ideal, this is just what CGs in this verse do sometimes. Like we said at the beginning, this verse is a bit darker than the average ageplay verse.

A few more hours passed, mostly taken up by Tony doing menial labor around the house and checking in that Peter hadn’t died in his sleep or anything. Eventually, though, the doorknob began to turn and the front entrance cracked open. Stephen came inside, his scrubs having been left at the hospital after he washed them in the interior laundromat. Better to keep a potential biohazard away from little hands, they had decided.

“Babe?” Stephen called out and then followed Tony to where he heard him in the kitchen. He greeted his husband with a kiss, and then began searching for their newest addition to the household. “Where’s the baby?”  
“Passed out on the sofa. He had a bit of an episode at the park.” Tony grimaced a bit, setting aside the wine glasses he had been washing by hand.

“Oh no…” Stephen muttered.

“Don’t worry, he’s chinning up now. Went down for his afternoon nap all by himself. A little early, but I wouldn’t question it.” Tony responded. Sure enough, there the boy was, suckling gently on his thumb as little bits of sleep formed in his eyes.

“Looks like it really tuckered him out, though.” The doctor laughed. 

“Yeah.” Tony lamented. “Guess it’s a little early for pictures. That’s fine, though. He’s adjusting.”

The two men continued talking, mostly about the sleeping baby on the couch. Stephen took it upon himself, however, to remove Peter’s yucky thumb from his mouth. The sudden movement woke the Little, albeit he made sure not to alert the Daddies as to his alertness. Peter listened closely as the men talked just over his shoulder.

“So, that’s his second episode this week.” Tony hinted from behind Peter somewhere. The boy could feel Stephen’s weight at his side on the sofa, but since his head was facing away from the two men, they couldn’t tell he was awake, even if he opened his eyes. 

“We only got him a week ago, so of course he is going to struggle with settling in.” Stephen reasoned, but Peter’s heart rate picked up nonetheless. And with how he was laying on his front, he became hyper aware of just how hard his heart was beating in his chest. This could not be good. The boy heard Tony humming somewhere above him. Was that his left? Or his right? Peter couldn’t remember the difference.

“Maybe we should call the Center, check there wasn’t anything he left there. A toy? A friend? Something’s bothering him. Something bad.” The CEO acknowledged, running a caring hand through the Little’s hair.

Stephen sighed. The weight from the other side of the couch seemed to shift, and Peter could just barely hear the springs move underneath him. Footsteps echoed, walking around the couch and up by where Stephen’s weight was positioned.

“I don’t know anymore, babe. He just- he always looks so scared. Are you sure we haven’t done something to him?”

“We? What we’ve done is spoil him.” Tony chuckled. “If anything bad was done, then it was at the Center. I mean- you saw the place. It’s not unheard of that they don’t exactly treat them with silk gloves over there.” Tony pointed out, and Stephen hummed in agreement. 

It was all true, Peter knew that because he went through that. But, having someone else put it like that made him even more stressed. He felt like an animal, pretending to be dead already on the rode while the cars flew by, praying that none of them would hit him. 

“So, what about a psychologist then? Maybe even a psychiatrist to see if he needs medication.” Stephen added.

A soft sound was heard, but Peter couldn’t tell what it was. A humming or some sort, and a gentle ‘plop’, like when he and Ned used to joke around by dropping pebbles into the puddles that would form in the mud after a rainy morning.

“You always have the best ideas, don’t you, honey?” Tony asked. Peter couldn’t take it anymore. He didn’t understand why nobody loved him, but then his Daddies would say that they did. He wasn’t big, he wasn’t strong, he was just expensive.

“Hmm, I do. I’m brilliant like that.” Stephen hummed lowly, followed by that same soft sound. The boy could barely hear it over the hammering of his heart and the rush of his blood in his ears. “I’ll call Christine and some others at work, see if we can find someone quickly.” 

“Do we need to sell another Audi?” Tony joked, but Peter didn’t see it as that. He was just a burden, an expensive burden and that was all. He couldn’t even behave to make up for the price tag on him. The boy sniffed to keep the little dribble of snot from coming out his nose, only to realise that he had done it far too loudly to keep his cover.

“Baby? You awake?” Stephen asked, bringing his hand over so that he could physically flip the boy over. Peter’s open eyes were revealed, accompanied by the pained look written all over his face. Stephen smiled forcefully, hoping to cheer the Little up. “Hey there, Petey.” He cooed. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

Everything. Everything was going on, and so once more Peter burst into tears, just like the overpriced crybaby he was. Both Stephen and Tony were alarmed by how suddenly Peter went into another crying fit, and they both came to sit next to the boy to comfort him. 

“No- no...” Peter tried, but he wasn’t heard. And for the first time since being put in the adoption system, he raised his voice and cried out. “NO!” The husbands were stunned once more and leaned back a few inches to give Peter the space he needed. They waited with bated breath for what the Little would do next. “T-Take- m-me back... Wan’ back…”

Both men stood shell shocked, staring blearily at the Little who had just insisted he be put back in the Center.

“Baby, we would never do that.” Tony insisted, trying to get closer to Peter. But, the boy merely screamed a loud banshee-like scream, and began kicking frantically. A full-blown tantrum of pent up emotion, years and years of pain coupled with a week of confusion. Peter’s feet missed the husbands by just an inch or less. The boy continued screaming, even when they rose up from the sofa and took a step back. 

This was an insult, both Stephen and Tony knew that, and both got furious at having their Little behave in such a way. Stephen was the first one to take Peter by his arms, and twisted the wiggling and screaming boy back onto his front. Peter yelped in surprise and fright, and kicked his feet back, but was quickly overpowered by Tony who pushed his legs down.

“Peter, stop.” Tony threatened, adding pressure to bring the distressed boy back into reality. It didn’t work. Peter continued fighting, his face soaking wet from tears. Somewhere in the room, the Little could hear his Papa’s voice, but the blood thumping in his head kept him from truly understanding the words, which only made him feel worse. Peter had only wanted to be a good boy, and now he’d definitely ruined it.

“Peter, this isn’t a game. You know better.” Stephen continued the lecture, following his husband’s lead and squeezing lightly on the boy’s wrists to get his attention. “What happened to the good boy that brought me lunch today, huh? You’re being very naughty. Dada and Papa are gonna need to take you to the doctor. Is that what you want?”

“No-ho-oh!” Peter stuttered out between gasps of air and sobs. From the way Stephen was holding his hands behind his back and Tony was holding his legs, Peter had no way of attacking back. He could have bitten, but they were too far away to do that. So, all that remained was surrender, but the boy continued to wiggle and squirm a while longer as he cried. 

“Then start acting like a good boy, huh?” Stephen argued by his ear. “This is unacceptable, Peter. All three of us know that you are better than this. So, start behaving like it.”

Peter breathed more steadily now, the fear of another doctor’s visit weighing down on him like a pile of bricks, crushing his wrists and legs into dust of bone. Noticing the lessening panic, both men slowly eased up on Peter’s limbs giving him an inch until they worked up to a mile. The boy stayed limp on the couch, not even moving from where his face had been harshly shoved into the seat cushion.

“Peter? Are you going to talk about it like a big boy now?” Tony asked, flipping Peter over so that they could lock bleary eyes.

There was only one thing to say really. Making sure he did this right, Peter took some time to compose himself and make sure his voice was cooperating. 

“I’m- sorry.” The boy said as clearly as he could muster. He looked up at his Daddies anxiously and sniffled quietly. The Daddies exchanged a look, and Peter could not determine what they meant, so he sat holding his breath. Either, he’d get to stay, or they would finally send him away. 

“Good boy, Peter.” Tony finally said, a soft smile on his face. 

Peter couldn’t be more stunned.

“G-good?” Peter asked, looking between the two men in confusion. “I kick.” He claimed.  
Stephen tsked gently, running his hand over the boy’s knee and rubbing small circles into it. 

“You did kick, baby. And that was very bad. But, you knew it was wrong, and you stopped once you started listening to your Dada and Papa. That’s good, yeah?”

Peter shrugged. He didn’t feel very good. He’d had a tantrum. When Littles threw a tantrum at the center, they always got a spanking and put in timeout. Once, another Little even got put into a different group after she threw four tantrums in one day. Peter was pretty sure she was sick that day, but couldn’t quite remember since she was in Group M.

“You’ve had a long day, bud.” Tony comforted further and lifted the boy up onto his hip for a cuddle. “We all get upset sometimes, but we don’t hit and kick. You apologised for that, so it’s all good now.” He added, swaying Peter gently from side to side. 

Peter still didn’t feel very good about it all, but he was relieved to see the husbands starting on dinner. He got to be in Tony’s arms through that, which he appreciated a lot actually. Since they were so close, Peter didn’t have to have eye contact with the Daddies, and instead let his eyes wander around over Tony’s shoulder. It gave him so breathing space, while also being close to his Daddy.

“Papa?” Peter asked, reaching over the man’s shoulder to twirl his hair. Tony laughed. 

“Yeah, Pete?” Peter leaned forward, before giving the CEO a gentle kiss on the cheek, pecking quickly and then blushing as he buried his head in his Papa’s shoulder. “Oh, baby.” Tony chuckled, giving the boy a kiss on the nape of his neck.

“I wanna be here.” Peter mumbled, his head still turned away from Tony, but with his cheek still squished against his shoulder. “Not back there.”

“That’s good, I’m glad.” Tony smiled, bouncing Peter lightly in his grasp. “And we want you here too, and you belong here now. With us, cause we got you now. You’re ours, Peter.” The man added.

Peter had never liked it when people used possessive pronouns in relation to him.  
That was how everything was always worded, it had always made him feel sick. But, when Tony called him theirs, he didn’t. He felt happy. He felt like there could never be anything better than hearing those words. Because, if he’s Dada and Papa’s, he doesn’t have to go back to the Center. He doesn’t have to go back to getting teased, and underfed, and yelled at, and peed on. He didn’t have to go back to any of it.

“What do you want to drink, bud?” Stephen asked, coming up behind Tony so that he could face Peter where he was still draped over the CEO’s shoulder. 

“Jus’?” Peter asked, his voice quiet enough to correct himself and say something else in case they didn’t like what he answered. 

“Juice, all right.” Stephen confirmed and went to find a sippy cup. Peter watched him fill it with apple juice, and even adding a few ice cubes. When he was handed the cup, Peter felt like he was given the most expensive wine ever. 

“Thank you!”

Stephen laughed. 

“You’re a cutie.” He mumbled, ruffling the Little’s hair. A big smile was covering Stephen’s face, like he had just won the lottery. Stephen supposed he sort of had.

“Come on, baby, sit up.” Tony prompted, trying to move the boy to where his booster seat was secured on the third chair at the kitchen table. “You’re gonna eat some goulash, that sound yummy?” He asked. Peter nodded, too excited about the food to notice that his Papa was putting him down.

The food was amazing, once again, and Peter felt pleasantly full by the end of his meal. Since the boy was so hungry and needed to gain a few pounds still, Peter finished way before the Daddies, but he occupied himself happily by working on his silly cup slowly. The juice was just the perfect temperature, and Peter found himself taking small mouthfuls, like he was nursing a bottle. Perhaps the Daddies would make him a bottle one day. 

“Oh, buddy, you look sleepy...” Stephen cooed and tapped his finger under Peter’s chin. The boy jolted up, not even having realised he was drifting off.

“Should we go for bedtime a little early?” The doctor asked, undoing the harness of Peter’s seat and plucking him up. Gentle kisses from both men were placed on Peter’s head, as calming fingers ran through his curls. Peter yawned. 

“S’eepy.” The boy mumbled. The Little lifted his fingers toward his mouth, only to be stopped when Tony grabbed his hand. 

“You’re gonna need a paci.” The man whispered.

“Nuh uh.” Peter refused. “Big boy.” The grownups laughed. 

“Sure, you keep telling yourself that.” Tony chuckled.

A few moments later, a paci was placed in Peter’s mouth. The boy was a bit surprised at first, and blinked a few times before adjusting the paci in his mouth by sucking. It fit perfectly and Peter sagged against Stephen’s shoulder in content, like a switch had been turned off. Both the husbands cooed and chuckled at the sight, and Peter got even more kisses and head pats. That night, Peter slept more peacefully than he could ever remember doing before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you sm for reading! What do you guys think of how the Daddies handled Peter’s tantrum? Like we said at the start, it’s a cruel thing to do, but Stephen and Tony are definitely representing a norm in this verse. Laney and I absolutely loved exploring something darker like that tho ;))   
> The next one will be the final chapter! Will Peter get his happily ever after?


	8. The Forever And Always

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James comes to visit the Daddies to finalise the adoption.

“Peter, stop wiggling, you silly butt!” Tony chuckled, tickling the boy to try and get him to stay still. Of course, he probably should have considered that that would only make the boy laugh more. Peter giggled, but ultimately stopped so that his Papa could get his morning pull up on. Today was the big day, James was en route to do a routine check and officially finalise Peter’s purchase.

Peter knew about James’ visit, even before the Daddies brought it up. After being in the adoption system for so long, Peter knew the routine. He was both excited and nervous at the same time. The second week had been even better than the first one. They had all gone out to eat, at a super fancy restaurant, and Peter got to pick whatever he wanted. At least off of the kids’ and Littles’ menu. That trip to the restaurant had made Peter feel a lot more at home, but that’s where the nerves came in. What if this was all over soon?

“You ready for breakfast, bud? All wakey wakey eggs and bakey?” Tony asked, giving the boy another gentle tickle.

Peter giggled wildly again, pushing his doubts to the side. He’d been doing that a lot nowadays, getting worried and then making himself forget about it. It had been the only way to keep himself from throwing another tantrum and disappointing his Daddies. 

After today, Tony and Stephen would be officially tied to Peter, and any attempts to return the boy would be essentially nullified unless they had a very good reason. If he was handsome and polite all day, he could stay forever. Seen, not heard. That wasn’t too hard.

“Want jus!” Peter said, running ahead of Tony to the kitchen. He found out that he was allowed to run at a slow pace inside the house last Sunday. It was actually quite fun, and sometimes the Daddies found chase him with playful growls. 

“You want juice? All right, you can have it after Daddy gets you your medicine.” Tony allowed and followed the running boy to the kitchen. Stephen was there, already making breakfast. He had also placed Peter’s inhaler and the spacer with the mask attached to it on the boy’s spot by the table.

“More me’cine?” Peter asked with a sigh.

At the Center, he only ever used his inhaler when his breathing stopped working and a worker would give it to him, then he could breathe in, in, in and out, out, out. Now, it had a funny spacer attached to it and came in a bunch of different colours so he could always have one with him. That wasn’t too bad, but having medicine every morning? Peter wasn’t much of a fan. The boy was lifted into his booster, a few crayons and a colouring book being taunted in front of him as his Dada cooked breakfast. 

“Take it like a good boy and you get to color until Dada finishes breakfast!” Tony chirped.

“All ‘f it?” Peter asked.

“Yupp, all of it.” Tony said, fixing the inhaler onto the spacer with the mask. Stephen had shown him how to work the devices, so he had no trouble doing it himself. He just had to press the mask to Peter’s nose and mouth and then press the button on the inhaler. Thanks to the spacer, he would inhale the medicine in his own time. 

Peter sputtered a bit at the odd taste and smell of the medicine, but breathing normally nonetheless. The mask felt a bit odd on his face, even after two weeks, but he was okay with it. Tony laughed at Peter’s expense. 

“Oh, handsome, I know it’s a little yucky. Papa’s sorry.”

Peter wasn’t sure if the man was genuine or not, but the gentle tone and funny quirk in Tony’s voice indicated it as such, so he didn’t let it bother him. He just focused on breathing like Stephen had shown him time and time again, in and out, in and out. As the boy finished up, Tony removed his mask and placed the colouring set on the table. 

“Looks like your Dada is being slow today, so you should have a few minutes of fun time before we eat, yeah?” Tony checked. Peter nodded, already thinking about how he wanted the kitty on page 72 to have purple ears.

“What is it?” The Little asked. 

“Oh, just some waffles and bacon. We got your warmed up blueberries for on top, don’t worry. Just make sure to ask me or Dada if you want more or so we can pour your syrup, okay?”

“Hm!” Peter was okay with that and opened his pencil case where he had all his fancy markers. The boy definitely did not miss the broken crayons back at the Center. Taking the pastel purple marker, Peter began colouring in the cat’s ears with precision. 

While he coloured, Peter could overhear the husbands talking sweetly to one another. Talking about their plans for today, dinner, groceries and plans for the weekend. Peter would much rather listen to this that the Center workers stressful talk about making everything work constantly. Peter was halfway done with the cat’s head when a sectioned plate of waffles and bacon was placed next to his colouring supplies.

“I’ll take that.” Stephen said, plucking the items from Peter’s hand and taking them over to the aptly named ‘Peter Cabinet’. 

The boy briefly considered throwing a fit about not getting to colour anymore, but then remembered the yummy waffles that were right next to him. He began eating quickly, only stopping when one or both Daddies would tell him to slow down. After twenty minutes, Peter had eaten all of the waffles and attempted to ask for another serving. 

“Try some bacon for once, sweetie.” Stephen prompted. “You can’t get seconds on waffles if you haven’t finished the plate.” 

Peter tried the bacon, but his face scrunched up into a grimace. He dropped the bacon, and only then did he realise his mistake. Oh, no. He was so screwed. 

“What is it, honey bun?” Tony asked worriedly, not at all offended or angry it seemed. But, Peter had just shown terrible manners at the table. Wasn’t this a sure spanking?

“Didn’t you like it?” Stephen asked, and Peter slowly shook his head. 

“Too spicy…”

“Too salty?” Stephen clarified. “That’s all right, sweetheart. I’ll get you a yogurt instead.”

Oh.

As Stephen opened the fridge and grabbed a cookies and cream flavoured yogurt from the door, Peter’s favourite, and sat it down in front of the boy, Peter watched with bated breath. He should be getting yelled at. He should be getting a bare bottom spanking and timeout for the rest of the day. He had been bad, so, so bad. And his Daddies hadn’t even bothered to discipline him. Peter ate his yogurt nervously, but he didn’t ask for more waffles once he finished it. He’d asked enough already, he was already a burden. 

“Down, please?” Peter asked, putting on a sweet voice to please the Daddies. It seemed to work, since he was lifted out by Tony and even got a kiss on his head before he got an encouraging pat on his padded behind. 

The boy toddled off, in search of a quiet and calm place to just think by himself. Pausing by the living room, Peter looked at the open door leading to the veranda and down to the backyard. Peter wandered outside, making sure to shut the sliding glass soot behind him so his Daddies wouldn’t get mad later when they didn’t know where he was. The backyard, while fenced off, gave Peter all of the fresh air he needed. There were so many things that were his. His cottage playhouse, his slide, his ball, his many, many Pokémon cards spread out on the picnic table. All his.

Peter was growing more comfortable with all his possessions now and how rapidly he had gained them. He was even growing a bit territorial and possessive over them, but he never shooed the Daddies away when they came to see what he was doing. Peter was always nervous that they would take his things, but that hadn’t happened yet. Perhaps they really were his. Running over to the picnic table, Peter settled down with his Pokemon cards and began rearranging and studying them. His favourite card was Growlithe, obviously, and he really hoped he could get its evolved version Arcanine soon as well. Maybe that card would be shiny.

“Peter! Did you go outside, buddy?” Tony’s voice echoed from the chasms of the house. “James is here, handsome! You gotta come inside and say hi!”

Peter froze in his spot, Growlithe dropping from his hand as the little monster seemed to cry for safety, falling down, down, down until it hit the dirty grass. The boy stood slowly, dragging himself forward to the house as panic set in. This was it. This was the last chance his Dada and Papa were gonna get for a long time to send Peter back. What if they’d already decided they didn’t want him? What if they hated him? Peter had loved the last two weeks, but he’d been so bad.

He had cried, kicked, hit and screamed. Surely that was more than enough to be sent back. At least Brucie would be there, but so would Nichole, James, Flash and all his nasty friends. Peter cringed at the thought and slowly walked up the wooden steps up to the door leading back into the house. Sliding the glass door shut, Peter could hear the Daddies and James in the entrance hall. 

“Peter, buddy?” Stephen called out this time, and Peter picked up his speed, as did his little heart in his chest.

“‘m here.” Peter mumbled. 

James was wearing a new uniform, definitely different then anything the Little had ever seen him in. The t-shirt with the center’s logo and khakis stood in striking juxtaposition to what Peter typically thought of James to wear. The boy had only ever seen him in either a polo and dress pants or the fancy tuxedo the man always pulled out for the auctions. Peter waved shyly, almost saying his hellos out loud, but stopped when he received a glare from the man in return. Seen, not heard. Right.

“Would you like some coffee?” Tony offered and let James in properly. The social worker expressed his thanks and let the husbands show him to the living room. Peter ran ahead of them, to make sure he stayed out of their way. The boy watched James sit down with a nervous look, but he was quickly distracted when Tony called out to him. 

“Petey, what do you want to drink?” 

Oh, no. This was a test for sure. James was right there, watching him! 

“Uhm- you choose.” Peter replied quietly. 

“I’m asking you, bud. You can have juice, milk, iced tea or water. It’s up to you.” Tony offered. The gesture made Peter even more unsure. Who was he going to please?

The boy looked at all 3 grownups in the room, starting to shake a small bit. He only ever got water at the center, maybe some milk if the cooks were in a good mood. 

“Milk, Papa. Please and thank you.” Peter muttered, frantically glancing at James. Dada always liked when he drank milk, complimenting the Little wildly for being a good baby and making his bones all big and strong. Maybe James would be okay with it?

Once everyone had their drinks, the caregivers and the Little went to sit down. Peter was relieved when Stephen directed him to sit in between him and Tony, while James sat opposite them on the other sofa. Peter felt safer like this. At least a bit. 

“So, two weeks, huh? How’s it been, Mr and Mr Stark-Strange?” James started and took out a clipboard and pen. Peter caught a glimpse of the Center logo on the clipboard as well.

“Wonderful.” Tony said. Peter gaped quietly. Was Papa lying for him? Was Papa going to keep him forever and ever and ever even though he been bad? Maybe... maybe Stephen and Tony really did think he was a good boy.

“Yeah? That’s great.” James smiled before looking at his clipboard. “We are always very pleased to hear that we matched up couples well.” 

“Yeah, we’re very happy. There have been a few hiccups, but-” Stephen started, but was interrupted by James. 

“Such as?” 

Oh, no, no, no. Before Peter knew what was going on, the milk he drank through his straw went the wrong way. He sputtered at first, then coughed as he tried to catch his breath. The conversation stopped, both of the Caregivers suddenly jumping off the couch and bending down to check on Peter, who was going red in the face from either humiliation or lack of oxygen. Peter wasn’t sure.

“Baby, baby, baby, oh, hey! Hey, prince. Come on now, look at Dada. You see how Dada’s breathing can you try and copy Dada, please?” Tony was saying. 

Peter followed the directions, noticing that Stephen was demonstrating different breathing techniques. But, all Peter could look at was James and his only slightly concerned face. The man had the power to take him away, Peter knew that very well, and he hated him for it, he realised. 

“Peter! Peter, eyes here.” Stephen said, snapping his fingers in front of Peter’s face. It made the boy snap back into reality, and he looked at his Dada and how he was breathing. With great effort, the boy started to breathe normally again as his coughs eased off.

“Good boy, good boy. There’s my precious little guy.” Tony praised. 

“Hey, handsome, you feeling better?” Stephen questioned. Peter wiggled in his seat with a shrug. 

“Okay now.” The boy claimed. The two Daddies looked at each other, slightly surprised at Peter’s reluctance, but they both locked eyes and somehow agreed to ignore it. Poor thing was probably nervous.

“You all right, Peter?” James asked, but then turned his attention to the Daddies before Peter could answer him. “I hope his asthma isn’t worse.” 

“Oh, not at all. It’s actually better. We took him to a colleague of mine, and she prescribed him a better inhaler. He’s been really good.” Stephen told James. The social worker seemed a bit surprised, or taken aback. 

“Oh, really? Well, I’m glad he isn’t causing you so much trouble.”

Both of the caregivers grimaced at that, but Peter barely noticed. He just knew one thing, which was that he was maybe not going back to the Center. Or he was, and his Dada and Papa needed to get to the point already.

“Anyways, we would really rather not list any of the details. He’s been very well behaved, you should hear how flabbergasted my coworkers have been. Everyone loves him.” Stephen insisted, now sitting back down and lifting Peter to sit precariously on his lap.

For a split second, Peter freaked a bit at being picked up, but he relaxed before he even noticed that he had panicked in the first place. Now he was just content in Stephen’s lap and began fiddling with the buttons of his shirt. 

“That’s wonderful. Have you thought of daycare or some sort of day activities for him while you’re working?” James asked next, noting some things down on his clipboard.

“Oh, that shouldn’t be necessary. One of us can always stay home with him.” Tony insisted, making James sputter. 

“And leave your jobs to rot? Please, men, be civil. You can’t uproot your livelihoods for your Little. You should consider daycare.” 

Stephen looked to his husband, a little put off. Leave Peter with a bunch of strangers all day while they went to work? It was something he understood needed to be done, the world didn’t revolve around Peter, but it hurt to think about. 

“Maybe once he’s finished settling in we could set up an enrolment interview for him with that nice, expensive place downtown.”

“That sounds wonderful! Daycare really is something you should look into. It will be great for you to get to work normally and not be so weighed down by a Little.” James insisted. The husbands forced a smile, but shared a look and agreed silently that they would definitely discuss this more. In private. 

Meanwhile, Peter was starting to fidget a bit. This talk was a constant at the Center, but after being away for two weeks, Peter had grown used to an alternative. A much nicer alternative, one filled with understanding, acceptance and most importantly, love.

“Peter, don’t you think you should be going to daycare soon?” James asked, a threatening air about his gaze.

The boy froze, locking eyes with the man in a moment of complete panic. He turned to Stephen, collapsing into the man’s chest. 

“Dada.” He mumbled. The doctor began to gently pat the boy’s back, giving little reassurances.

“Peter, please. We’ve taught you better. Answer my question, I’m sure your Daddies would like to hear your opinion on the matter.” James instructed, which was stupid because nobody cared about Peter’s opinion. Ever. This was all a test, once again, but thanks to the Daddies’ comforting presence, Peter dared to mumble out his opinion. 

“Don’ wanna... not yet...” 

“And that’s okay, bud. We’ll continue like we have done these two weeks, and then we’ll see what we do later.” Stephen assured and continued to rub Peter’s back. 

“Besides, I love it when you bring me lunch, baby.” Tony chimed in, stroking at the boy’s cheek with one finger. 

“So do I.” Stephen added. 

On the other sofa, James mumbled something to himself, but the three others didn’t pay him any mind.

Peter snuggled closely to Stephen, not minding when Tony reached over and took a firm grab of his foot, shaking it around to get a rise out of the boy. It didn’t work. Peter’s mind was fixated now.

“And what about baby proofing? I noticed some of the corners were still exposed.” James asked, scribbling meaningless nonsense onto his clipboard. At this point, with how certain the Daddies seemed to be on keeping Peter, it was either find something small and stupid to call a risk of damage or sign the boy over for the final time.

“He doesn’t run around the house like that. He’s very calm and collected, so we don’t think it’s necessary, really.” Stephen said, then turned to his husbands to hear his thoughts. 

“Yeah, he does most of his rough play outside, and that can’t be baby proofed, can it?” Tony pointed out jokingly. James didn’t laugh though, and his face was still a mildly bored and annoyed one. 

“Well, don’t call me later when something happens and say I didn’t warn you.”

“Don’t expect anything.” Tony chuckled.

James began checking off items on his list, worthlessly scribbling and scrawling on the once clean sheet of paper, tarnishing it with the harsh graphite. The man tutted. 

“Well, all seems to be in order and you seem sure of your purchuse. You’ll just need to fill out this last set of paperwork and- since you seem so comfortable with your matching- a small note is requested on Sector G5 of page 29. It’s an... employee performance sort of thing.”

“Right, should we sign right-” 

“Yes, preferably.” James pressed on. While Stephen continued to hold Peter, Tony got up to fetch them a pen. 

“You okay, baby?” Stephen whispered to Peter, not wanting James to intervene again. In reply, Peter nodded silently, but continued to hold onto his Dada tightly. He was growing very anxious for James to leave already.

“Dada, can I see Papa now?” Peter asked as Tony finished marking up the pages. Stephen laughed. 

“You’re silly, baby.” He said, before handing the boy off to his other caregiver. “Here, buds, you play with Papa’s hair while I finish and then it’ll be naptime.” Peter didn’t need to be told twice, though, and quickly worked his fingers into Tony’s waves.

“Thanks for that...” Tony mumbled lovingly while Peter began touching his hair. “Are you giving me a new hairstyle? You making me all pretty again?” 

Peter liked the sound of that and giggled as he continued to run his fingers through Tony’s hair. There was some product in it, which made Peter’s fingers feel a bit sticky, but he didn’t mind. The boy almost forgot that they still had a visitor, but he was reminded again when Stephen sat up a bit and handed the paperwork over. 

“Well, I think congratulations are in order once again. The purchase is now final.” James announced with that forced smile again.

Peter was taken up to his room for a nap by Tony while Stephen went about seeing James to his car. And since Peter was staying here, and not going with James, Peter put two and two together. He was staying with the Daddies. Peter didn’t quite know how to say it out loud, but he really did hope his Daddies knew how thankful he was. 

So, he tried, with tears welling up in his eyes. 

“Love you…” The boy mumbled.

“We love you too, baby.” Tony whispered. “Forever and always.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you sm for reading! That’s it for ‘Learning Little Love’! Laney and I both greatly appreciate you all reading all the way to the end. We’d love to hear what you guys think of it all! 
> 
> \- Rafni xx


	9. (Authors’ Note)

Hello, hello!  
Just popping in to say Laney and I are in the middle of writing more for this fic, so I have changed the complete status of the fic to not completed. Make your bookmarks people and subscribe to be notified when we update in the near future... See you then lovelies! 

\- Rafni

Follow our Tumblrs:  
Laney: sugar-and-spice-parker  
Rafni: professional-benaddict

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also if ur a filthy american like me dont forget to register to vote -laney


	10. To Be A Good Boy l

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets to spend the day with both his Daddies, and they head out to the mall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii hello! Laney and I are back at it again! Here's a handful of chapters for you guys to enjoy over the next few weeks c:

These are the best kinds of days, Peter knows that now. The kinds of days where all the attention is on him, and him only, because both his Daddies are home for the day. These kinds of days make Peter feel all tingly inside. It makes him want to bounce, so that is what he does after breakfast while waiting for his Daddies to get themselves ready, and then eventually him too. 

“Where we going today?” Peter asks, hopping around Stephen as he brushes his teeth. The doctor looks at him with a funny look, and gestures to his full mouth. Peter turns to Tony instead. “Papa, where we going?” 

Unlike Stephen, Tony has already brushed his teeth, and is now trimming his facial hair carefully. 

“We’re going to pick up your inhaler from the pharmacy, and get you some pacis. Cause you chewed them all, huh?” Tony teases, nudging Peter in his back playfully.

Peter laughs, because when Papa teases him like that it is not mean or callous, no malice lingers through in a seeping puddle of black ink. The words are always clean as Peter’s back after bath time. 

“We don’ got more in’views?” Peter checks in case his Daddies may be forgetting a key part of their town trip. After all, the boy has been on three interviews this month alone, so he cannot be sure. The men chuckle in response.

“You’ll be fine, baby.” Stephen says, wiping his mouth of foam with a nearby towel and checking his shave in the mirror. “No big, bad interviews today, you silly butt.”

“Aww!” Peter groans out jokingly. He flops over Tony a bit, holding onto the man’s hips to stay upright. “I like da in’views.” 

“No, you don’t.” Tony points out, making Peter run off with a giggle. “Go find what you wanna wear, baby!” 

Peter likes that idea, and steers his way to his bedroom. He throws open his drawers, nearly pulling them off in the process and starts looking for something cool to wear.  
Yes! Today is a shark kind of day, so Peter grabs his shark hoodie and tries to put it on himself, but the boy just ends up putting it on the wrong way with the hoodie in front of his face, rather than on his back. That gives him an idea... And so Peter pulls the hood over his head, making him nearly blind, and tries to find his way back to Daddies.

As he walks blindly through the hall, the boy quickly realises that this is more difficult than expected. He cannot see and he is not all that coordinated to begin with, a trait his Daddies always find endearing.

“Pete? What’re you doing, bud?” A voice echoes from in front of him. Dada. Dada has a gruffy and huffy voice that is good for story time, that is how he knows so well. Peter is smart like that.

“Dada, am blind! Can’t see youu!” Peter drawls with a giggle, lifting his arms as if he is a zombie to try and find his Dada. After a few more wobbly steps, his hands are taken into larger ones, and then the hood is pulled away from his face. Through the curls in front of his eyes, Peter grins at Stephen. 

“There you are! Did you get all tangled up?” Stephen asks with a chuckle and lifts the hoodie off of the boy, then fixes it on him the right way. Peter looks down at the shark on his front while Stephen combs through his hair with his long fingers.

“You like the sharky, baby?” Tony asks, quickly checking the boy’s behind to make sure they had gotten Peter into one of his new Paw Patrol pull ups that morning. Peter giggles and nods wildly, causing Stephen’s hand to be shaken off, which makes the man tutt a little jokingly.

“Okay, then it’s your turn to brush your teeth, mister.” Stephen announces and takes Peter’s hand to lead the boy to the bathroom connected to his bedroom. “Lets get you all ready so we can head out.” 

They make it out of the house and into the car within the next twenty minutes. Managing a happy baby is not the most time effective always, since Peter wants to be funny and get his Daddies to join in. But, they have a schedule, and the Daddies would like to get back home early to make lasagna from scratch. But, they hit the road soon enough, and head in the direction of the nearest mall to run their errands for the day.

“Dada?” Peter prompts from his carseat, already having spent the two minutes of driving watching ‘Go, Diego, Go!’ on his iPad. Peter likes things that are his.

Stephen glances up at Peter in the rearview mirror, taking a note as to how the boy’s face is slightly contorted in annoyance. Peter must have a question.

“Yeah, baby? What’s up?” He asks, opening the door for conversation. The boy kicks his feet a little, his thumb creeping into his mouth and making his poor Dada cringe as he remembers that they really need new pacifiers.

“I get toy today?” The boy asks sheepishly.

“No, baby. We are picking up your inhaler and getting you new pacis. That’s our shopping list for today. Toys are only for special days, okay?” Tony chimes in, turning to look at Peter from the passenger seat. 

The boy tries to act coy, but Tony sees right through his. Peter knows very well that his question was a daring one, considering how he had gotten a brand new pack of Pokémon cards just last week while he was sick. Stephen had had a moment of weakness in the store while picking up fever reducing meds and bought the pack. The boy should know better than to ask for more, but Tony does not add that. He is just a baby after all. 

“You can pick out which pacis you want, though.”

Peter smiles at that. He knew he would not probably get a toy, but pacifiers are cool, too! Maybe that cool sharky one he saw last month… The boy sits up straight and returns to following along with Diego, occasionally responding to the questions in the way he knows makes his Daddies giggle.

“Hola, Diego! Soy Peter!” He calls as another episode starts up, but not much more can happen before he feels the car slow down and suddenly they have teleported to the mall. Like magic!

Peter kicks his feet against the back of the front seat while he waits for his Dada to get him out. Luckily, the Daddies have put up a cover for the seat with pockets, so that Peter will not scratch the leather and he can have his things within arms reach. So, he only gets a little tut from Stephen when he gets lifted out of the carseat. 

Hand in hand with both his Daddies, Peter skips along the asphalt and makes a show out of jumping from where the asphalt of the underground parking lot turns into the much smoother floor on the inside of the mall. He likes to think he is in a game, hopping and moving rapidly from one terrain to the next. Perhaps the mall could be a small town in a dessert? That would make Peter a cowboy!

“Come on, little one.” Stephen says, pulling Peter along as his boy got over distracted with the silliest things. Peter is not really the brightest when it comes to practical things for a Little of his age range, but that just makes him all the more cutesy.

Tony takes his chance and picks their baby up, deciding it is probably best to carry Peter through the mall. Maybe they could get him a leash… 

“Papa, you gotta carry me?” Peter asks cautiously.

“Because I want to, baby.” Tony coos and kisses Peter’s cheek loudly to get a giggle out of him. “That way I can do that.”

Peter giggles and wipes his hand over his cheek, wiggling a bit as if he was actually grossed out by the sign of affection. But, he of course adores it. 

The trio head to the pharmacy first, and while Tony holds Peter, Stephen heads to the counter to get the prescription filled. While waiting, Peter gazes over the white and clinical looking space. It reminds him of doctor Christine’s office. The boy scrunches his nose to show Tony that he dislikes this.

“I know, babes. I know.” Tong coos to keep the boy from fussing, and bounces him lightly on his hip. The boy quiets down, but a pout remains as Peter continues to be bored. He wanted to go get his pacifiers now, but he knows any more misbehaviour will potentially warrant a spanking, so he keeps quiet.

The boy had gotten a spanking just two weeks ago when he had thrown a tantrum, just like that one time he had woken up on the sofa and lashed out at his Daddies that first time. The tantrums have not been frequent, but they still occur now and then when Peter gets overwhelmed and feels trapped, whether that be for real or just in his own mind.  
But, today is a good day, Peter reminds himself and so he tries to wipe off his pout as much as he can. That makes Daddy happy as well, so what is not to like about that?

“Peter, you want a blue one?” Stephen calls from where he is stood at the counter. Peter always wants a blue inhaler, but one time the boy had asked for pink instead, so Stephen makes sure to check each time just in case. The Daddies want medicine time to be as pleasant of an experience as possible, and if colours make any difference, they are happy to provide.

The boy babbles the question back to himself a few times, working through it in his head, before finally responding ‘blue! like Squirtle’ and making Stephen’s heart ache. The doctor nods with a smile and tells the pharmacist to get the blue one. Within a few moments, he returns to Tony and Peter by the entrance of the pharmacy, showing the small paper bag. 

“Then, pacis next!” 

This is definitely the best part, and Peter spends a long time marvelling at all the pacifiers at the toy store. The pacifiers in the baby section take up a whole shelf, and Peter toddles back and forth to pick out ones he likes. Whenever he finds one, he toddles to his Daddies to give it to them. So far, he has picked a shark one, a bumblebee and a pink crown.

As the boy stares thoughtfully at a cute little Tiana paci, all green and purple with glitter on it and everything, he hears his Papa gasp and call out to someone. 

“Pep! Nat!”

Peter is not sure what exactly is going on, but he follows dutifully as his Dada grabs his hand and pulls him out of the pacifier aisle and around a corner. Luckily, Peter manages to grab the paci he was eyeing, but he is quickly distracted when he sees who his Daddies are talking to. There are two women, both red heads, but one has more of a blonde tone to it, while the other shorter one has more actual red tones. They both look classy and smart in heels and skirts, but Peter does not pay them much mind when he sees a Little girl running down the aisle. Those curls... that smile... 

“MJ!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you sm for reading! Peter found MJ, can you believe it? <3


	11. To Be A Good Boy ll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and his Daddies go on a coffee date with MJ and her Mommies.

“MJ!”

MJ looks up and makes eye contact with Peter, her own eyes lighting up so bright one could have sworn they were backed by lightbulbs.

“Peter!”

The two Littles embrace into a hug before the caregivers can intervene. MJ even picks Peter up slightly, as his tiny body is no match for her strength. Both the Daddies and Mommies are quite stunned and surprised to see their Littles embrace one another so suddenly. They clearly knew one another, and quite well too based on how long their hug is. 

“Daddies, is MJ! Is MJ!” Peter exclaims with glee, bouncing on the spot while holding hands with the girl. 

“You know her?” Tony asks, looking up at Pepper and Natasha briefly. 

“Yeah! Is MJ!” Peter repeats, thinking that will help the Daddies figure out who the girl is.

It is not helpful, but that was somewhat expected of Peter. He is just a baby, after all, and his articulation is not quite up to speed with anything that would come from a grown up.

“MJ? You know Peter?” Pepper asks, gesturing to the bouncing Little boy.

“Center.” MJ nods before reaching out a hand to grab onto Peter’s. With both hands intertwined, the two Littles make a game out of rocking their arms back and forth, like a cradle.

“Ah, right! You were at the same Center.” Pepper confirms, making sure the Daddies also heard so that they were all on the same page. The Littles definitely seem to be on the same wavelength, and giggle and move together in unison. 

“They seem like best friends, huh?” Tony points out. “It’s so great to see you, Pep, and Nat, too, of course. I don’t know what your schedule is, but perhaps we could go get coffee? Catch up?” 

The four adults all agree, and rightfully so since there seems to be no separating of MJ and Peter.

As they walk over to the coffee shop, that is conveniently located all the way on the other side of the giant mall that does not have any baby carrying carts and bans strollers, Tony basks in the moment to set Peter down and shake his arms free.

“Do you want some banana chips and blueberry juice while the grown ups have coffee, Peter?” He asks the Little. The boy nods as Tony reaches for an empty high chair from another table.

“It’s probably a good time for MJ’s snack too, hopefully they won’t be sharing this way.” Nat chuckles.

“MJ, you sit next to me!” Peter announces, pointing at the spot on the corner of the booth where Tony sets the high chair. MJ nods promptly with a grin and scoots onto the sofa of the booth. Natasha comes to sit next to her, but Pepper remains standing and offers to take everyone’s coffee orders. In the meantime, Stephen grabs a chair to sit on Peter’s other side to take out his snack and assist him with eating. Natasha does the same for MJ, and also makes sure to wipe her hands with an antibac wipe first.

“So...” Tony trails as Pepper walks off to place their order, giving a few glances MJ’s way to suggest the meaning of his question. “How much?”

Natasha bit her lip slightly. It is a dangerous sign, but a sign nonetheless. The Mommy glances in Peter’s direction nervously, where the baby is munching happily on a banana chip as his Dada preps a bottle of blueberry juice.

“50.” Natasha admits. There is no need to add ‘thousand’ to it, since they all knew just how much a Little cost. It is thousands for sure. 

Tony hums thoughtfully, and decides not to bring up how Peter was twice that price. 

“She seems absolutely lovely.” Tony compliments, nodding towards the girl who is chewing on her own snack, which is a granola bar. The Littles seem to be having some sort of secret non-verbal conversation, since now and then they will giggle quietly while munching. It is adorable, and Tony can hardly complain since Peter is eating obediently.

Soon enough, Pepper joins them at their table after ordering their drinks, saying they will be brought over to their table in a few minutes. 

“So, what are you guys doing in town?” Stephen asks the Mommies.

“We went to the library.” Pepper starts, then nods towards MJ. “She loves the library, so we try to go every week to pick up now storybooks to read. Which ones did you find this time?” The woman asks, nudging MJ a bit. 

“I got one ’bout a polar bear and a princess, and then another one about a worm and then- I don’t remember the last one.” The girl giggles. 

“Is it about sharks?” Peter asked.

MJ gasps and nods, her braids wobbling back in forth in time with the motion. Peter, mesmerised by the movement, reaches out a hand in an effort to grasp one of the braids like a toy, but Tony is quick to grab his hand.

“Ah, ah, Peter. We don’t touch people’s hair without permission, yeah?” The man scolds.

Peter genuinely feels taken aback by the scolding, and looks over at MJ worriedly. He would hate to upset or anger his long lost friend! Luckily, MJ does not seemed fazed and whips her hair in Peter’s direction. 

“Is okay! Mommies did them yesterday after we went to the hair class.” MJ explained, showing off her braids with a wide grin.

“You two are taking classes for her hair?” Tony asks. “That’s so sweet!”

Pepper chuckles, taking Nat’s hand in hers and humming fondly. 

“Well, I sure didn’t want to guess. I can’t speak for my wife, but I’m not prone to putting myself in situations that could turn disastrous. Preparation is the key to being successful at anything.”

“I was not going to wing it, thank you very much.” Nat says cheekily to Pepper. 

“That’s amazing.” Stephen smiles, looking at MJ’s braids as well while the girl is still showing off to them all. The girl looks genuinely happy and healthy. Stephen cannot not help but wonder if she has always looked like that, or if she left the Center looking frail and thin, just like Peter. “Did the staff at the Center know how to do her hair?” 

“I got mine brushed with a brush!” Peter chimes in, once again thinking he is helpful. Tony just chuckles and shushes him so that the Mommies can answer.

“I think some of them knew how to do it, since MJ’s hair was done properly each time we met, so thank God for that.” Natasha chuckles. 

MJ, now bored of the conversation, returns to her snack, but not before sneaking one of her goldfish crackers onto the tray on Peter’s highchair. The boy quickly shoves the cracker into his mouth with a giggle. 

“Which daycare is Peter going to? Somewhere near you live?” Pepper asks. 

“Actually, he’s not in any daycare. I don’t know about MJ, but Peter definitely was not ready for daycare when we adopted him. We’ve spent every other day home from work to watch him, you know? Taking turns and stuff.” Tony explains.

Pepper cocks an eyebrow in confusion.

“That has to be stressful. Are you sure he isn’t ready by now? I mean, you can’t put your lives on hold just because he gets a little clingy.” She points out.

“I think he’s getting warmed up to the idea, but clingy would be an understatement.” Tony laughs. “Fortunately, he isn’t prone to tantrums, so I think once he goes for a few hours he’ll love it. We’ve been looking at some daycares, but we haven’t found one we like yet. There’s always something about the staff that just- well, just doesn’t work out for us.” Tony sighs a bit. 

“Have you tried Sunside? That’s the one MJ’s in. It’s not the most pricey, but she loves it there.” 

“Wait...” MJ interrupts. “You mean Petey could go to daycare with me? Please, Mama, please! It’d be so much fun, please!”

Natasha starts laughing softly and lift a beautifully manicured hand to stroke at MJ’s cheek. The idea about Peter going to the same daycare as MJ does not go unheard by Peter, and he whips his head adorably to scan his Daddies’ faces for clues as to whether he can go or not. Meanwhile, Natasha is speaking to MJ with a hint of sternness. 

“Be gentle now, MJ, you know that’s not your Mama’s decision. Now, be a good girl for Mommy and eat your snack, ‘kay?”

“Dada, pwease! Wanna go with MJ...” The boy whines, his tone getting dangerously close to tears at the end. Peter seems genuinely upset at the idea of not attending daycare with MJ. They have only just now found one another and now they will be separated again! 

“You really wanna go?” Tony asks the boy, just to be sure.

“Yeah! Yuh!” Peter cheers, his hair flying up and down as he nods vigorously and bounces in the seat, making the highchair clank against the ceramic floor, and causing Stephen to hastily grab it so Peter will not get hurt.

“Okay, okay...” Tony agrees, reaching over to scratch the boy’s head with a smile. “Daddy and I will consider it.”

The two Littles turn to one another, both gasping in excitement at the idea of being at the same daycare. In fact, now that it was mentioned as a possibility, they do not want anything else. 

“Well, I’m glad to see Peter made a friend. Or, found a long lost friend.” Stephen smiles and leans over to kiss Peter’s cheek, not that he cares much since he is busy playing a hand game with MJ. 

Considering how preoccupied the Littles are with their clapping game, the caregivers leave them be and start a conversation of their own. The grown up topics do not interest the Littles in the slightest, and instead, they have their own things to talk about. 

“You got Mommies for good?” Peter asks hopefully, pausing the clapping game by just holding onto MJ’s hands in his.

“Hmm! Think so. Martha came and gave ’em papers to sign. They shook hands and stuff, so it looked important. Martha hasn’t been to our house since that.” MJ explains and nods her head promptly to seem smart and important too, just like her Mommies. 

Peter nods back, although with a look of awe instead. If only he could be cool like MJ!

“James came and asked Dadas all kinds of questions. They wrote on some paper too.” The boy replies. Although the Littles are not able to comprehend the bureaucracy of Little purchase and adoption fully, they still understood some of its’ meaning. “I got Dadas for good.” Peter smiles. 

“Your Daddies look silly, Peter.” MJ giggles, and then adds. “They got hair on their faces.”

Peter shakes his head with a giggle, not at all offended by MJ remark. 

“No, it means fuzzy kissies.” The boy explains. He likes fuzzy kisses. When Dada and Papa give them, it is like a blankie is giving him all the love!

“What’s that about fuzzy kissies?” Tony asks the two, having overheard some of their conversation.

“Fuzzy kisses!” Peter repeats, once more thinking everyone is on the same wavelength as him and does not elaborate further. 

“Petey said you give fuzzy kisses.” MJ adds helpfully. 

“Oh! Cause we got the facial hair. Yeah, yeah, Peter says it tickles, but I don’t think so.” Tony chuckles and pokes at Peter’s side, making the boy squeal.

After some more chatting and catching up, Peter starts nodding off in his high chair. He is the youngest of them all, so that is no surprise. Instead, the Mommies looks at him with adoration, cooing at how cute he looks with his head tilted to the side and mouth half way open. Peter’s clear exhaustion and need for a nap signals to everyone that it is time to wrap up their coffee date. MJ is obedient and helps her Mommies tidy up, but Peter takes the news about them heading home a bit differently.

“P’ayda’e?” The boy groggily mumbles as be is lifted out of his highchair, kicking slightly as he stretches his legs out.

“Oh, honey bee, it’s time to go now.” Tony coos and rubs at Peter’s back, but the boy is having none of it. “Hey- hey, Peter, we are going now. No buts, mister.”

“No, but MJ!” Peter exclaims, clearly growing frustrated with the idea of them departing from his friend and her Mommies.

Tony’s face grows red as the Mommies intentionally avert their eyes, an attempt at politeness that he knew is anything but. Peter is coming off as a naughty baby, one that cries and fights all the time, and that is simply unacceptable.

“Peter, come on.” Tony threatens. “Either you behave now, or we won’t be inviting MJ over, ever. You hear me?” 

“Noo, Daddy!” Peter protests, making Tony even more furious. Stephen cannot help but feel embarrassed as well, and whispers to his husband. 

“Just take him to the car. I’ll say bye.” 

Nodding apologetically to Pepper and Natasha, Tony heads off with Peter, leaving Stephen to take their bags and the responsibility of saying their goodbyes to the Mommies. 

“I’m sorry about him. He’s still adjusting to our expectations.” Stephen apologises to the Mommies.

Natasha shakes her head calmly.

“Don’t you worry about him, the littlest ones always need a little longer. He’s probably still in Center-mode, the poor thing.” She attends, grabbing MJ’s hand and checking that everything is back in her purse.

“Yeah, well, you seem to have a little angel on your hands, so maybe he needs some more time with his friend.” Stephen chuckles. “Or a good spanking, but that’s besides the point.”

“Don’t go too hard on him.” Pepper frowns softly, laughing again when Stephen gives her a mischievous look. 

The three caregivers then exchange their goodbyes, and Stephen even crouches down to say bye to MJ. They will probably see her again soon, if Peter can learn to behave.

After waving goodbye to the two women and their baby girl, Stephen’s face drops into a sour expression. Even though both Pepper and Natasha assured him and Tony that Peter is just a Little boy and unable to behave himself, Stephen’s sense of caregiving is still bruised. He is better than this, and that should be reflected by a well behaved boy in his arms, and not a whiny and back-talking one. 

Down in the parking lot, Stephen can see that Tony is lecturing Peter, who is now strapped in his carseat. The doctor approaches his husband, and points one finger at the boy to get his attention, and to show that he is being as serious as ever.

“Do not make yourself out to be a bad boy ever again, Peter Stark-Strange. Or you will be regretting it.” Stephen says, with a such calm that it is almost eerie. Peter shrinks back in his seat, but this is not over yet, since Tony then adds. 

“And that means no playdate with MJ, like I said.”

In the backseat, Peter nods his head hard. He understands it. He understands it perfectly. If he does no behave, he will not get to see MJ. And he haas only now just found her again! There is only one simple thing for Peter to do, although in ways it is also the hardest task ever. 

To be a good and well behaved boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you sm for reading! Ouch, ouch! How will Peter handle this? What do you guys think?


	12. To Be A Good Boy lll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter has a very important mission.

Peter wakes up the next morning with his blankets tucked between his thighs. He had a nightmare, or at least he thinks he did. In his half-awake state, he is not sure what is real and what is part of his dreamland. Visions of a hairy, red monster and a bright green river with water entering his lungs as he swims away flash through his mind. Yeah, he definitely had a nightmare.  
The boy considers calling out for his Daddies, but then he remembers his mission. Peter is pretty sure his mission cannot involve cuddle time, even after remembering a nightmare from the night.

You see, Peter is on a mission and it is the hardest mission in the world. He has to be a good and well behaved boy, so that he can have a playdate with MJ. But, Peter does not exactly know how to be a good boy in different situations. Most times, it is a 50/50 chance, and Peter chooses blindly. But, he is starting to learn. 

And one of those things he has learned, is that his Daddies like if he is a big boy. And big boys dress themselves, so that Daddies do not have to. So, Peter does exactly that and climbs out of bed. His determination to find a good outfit for the day push aside his last lingering fears in his heart left behind by his nightmare.

“Dada, I got dressed!” Peter announces proudly, not even letting Tony wish him a good morning after entering his room. But, judging by the unhappy scowl on Tony’s face, it is not a good morning at all. 

Peter is a mess. He has got one sock on, his white special jeans on, and a shirt the wrong way round. Tony does not have time for this, and he grumbles as he rubs at his forehead. 

“Peter, why on earth did you get dressed by yourself? I haven’t even gotten you out of your night pull up. Do you want to get a rash on purpose? Come on now.”

Peter stalls.  
Why is he in trouble? He is trying to be a big boy for Daddies! Now Papa is mad at him, which is mean of him, but Peter knows better than to question a caregiver’s authority. That will just end up with him in timeout before even eating breakfast. 

“Papa likes when ‘m big boy.” Peter explains sullenly as he walks over to his caregiver. He hopes Dada does not come in soon, because he probably cannot handle having two angry Daddies at the same time. “Wan’ned to show you.”

“That’a great, Peter.” Tony says, although Peter does not quite think he meant it. “But, Dada or I dress you, okay? We have to get you a new pull up first, and then get dressed properly.” His Papa continues. Peter can hear the unspoken ‘because you’re not a big boy’, and so he cannot help but frown quietly as he lets Tony sort him out. 

If he cannot dress himself, then how can he be a good and well behaved boy? What is it that he needs to do to get to see MJ?

As Tony strips Peter of his wet pull up, which makes the boy even more disappointed in himself, he gives a light kiss to the baby’s head.  
Peter likes kisses, so he puckers his lips and gives one back. Yesterday, he had caught sight of Dada and Papa kissing on their mouths, so he tries to do the same.

“Peter?” His Papa asks, pulling away from the kiss. “What do you think you’re trying here, bud?”

“Kiss...?” Peter asks unsurely. Are not kissed allowed either? Has Peter woken up on an alien planet or? “No alien Papa!” Peter exclaims in a panic, making Tony even more confused. 

“Baby, what’s with you? I’m just asking why you’re trying to kiss me like that. Who taught you that?” Tony asks, crouching down to be more level with Peter. 

“What? No one, promise. Just-... dunno.” Peter mumbles. He knows nothing apparently, and that includes how to kiss his Daddies.

Papa sighs. 

“Little boys get and give kisses on the cheek and the head, maybe the nose, okay? Mouth kisses are just for grownups.”

Peter nods sullenly. He is still being a bad boy. His Papa is gonna hate him forever and ever and ever and he will never see MJ ever again.

“Come on now, baby boy. Let’s get you some breakfast. Wanna pick? Hm? We could do biscuits and gravy, those are yummy.”

Breakfast goes by without a hitch, thankfully. Peter takes his asthma medicine obediently and even gets to hold the mask and spacer himself, at least for a bit. Doing that small act of independence restores some of Peter’s broken pride from the dressing fiasco earlier.  
Peter finishes breakfast first, and his Daddies excuse him from the table. To pass the time before they start their day for real, Peter heads to his play kitchen set in the corner of the living room. He wants to imitate his Daddies’ cooking. That will make him a big boy for sure.

As Peter shuffles through the cabinets, he locates the coffee pot toy. He knows what coffee is, kind of. Daddies drink it all the time. Maybe... Maybe he should have some too? To be a big boy once and for all. But, he does not have any toy coffee! All he has in the house is the real deal. Hmm… 

“I can clear the table.” Peter hears his Papa say in the kitchen, followed by his Dada chuckling. 

“Cause you want me to go shave?” 

His Papa does not reply, but Peter can hear them laughing, so he inches closer to see when he can get a chance to grab the coffee. It is located in the cabinet with the tea, honey, sugar and other things. His Papa is currently putting away the honey. There the coffee is!

It must taste good, Peter figures. After all, all the big people drink it all the time. So, he cannot imagine why they would if not for the taste. As the baby hears his Dada begin walking out the kitchen, he immediately ducks behind a coat rack, keeping very still and closing his eyes tight so Dada cannot see him. He hears the footsteps stop in front of him, followed by a light chuckle, before they walk away again.

Thank goodness. Totally tricked him. Peter may just be the best spy ever.

Peter cannot help but grin at his own brilliance. Fooled one Daddy, now onto the next!  
He makes his way to the kitchen doorway on tip toe. Papa is loading the dishwasher while whistling some tune Peter cannot recognise. Not that it matters anyway. All he has to do is be very quiet as not to be dis-

“Peter? Why are you lurking?”

“Papa!” The boy exclaims shocked. How did Papa see him? He must be magical. His Papa bends down and picks him up off the floor, his little piggies dangling behind him as they leave the linoleum base behind. 

Papa just had to ruin his plan.

“No, Papa, no.” Peter says softly, wiggling down from his Papa’s hold just seconds after he picked him up. Luckily, Tony sets him down, but Peter knows he cannot stay in the kitchen, cause otherwise he will seem suspicious. He will have to wait for his Papa to leave before he can go looking for the coffee.

Peter wanders out of the room, leaving his confused Papa behind as he returns to the safety of the playroom. 

Maybe... maybe he should ask for the coffee? 

No, Dada and Papa would think he is being a silly little boy if he asks. He is a big boy, and big boys get their coffee all by themselves without needing help from Daddies. Even if big boys do not get cuddles and cheese crackers, Peter will be the biggest boy there is if it means a playdate with MJ.

It only takes a few moments of stalling on Peter’s part before he hears his Papa make his way to the office. The room is quite boring in Peter’s opinion, unless he gets to write his own important documents on his Daddies’ computers, then there is nothing there that can hold his interest. Papa is interested though, and so Peter takes his chance to sneak into the abandoned kitchen.

The boy makes a run for it, his bare feet smack smack smacking against the hardwood floor and making loud thumps throughout. Normally, he would giggle at the funny sound, but this is a very serious matter.

“Coffee...” Peter calls in a sing-song voice, as if mewing to a stray cat. “Coffee... come play wif Pe’er.”

The boy has to grab a stool to get up on the counter to reach the cabinet. But, that is no trouble, since Peter has done this before. He still gets a bit nervous about being so high up, so he makes sure to grab the box of coffee and then get down without stalling.  
Peter is so giddy about getting the box that he forgets to close the cabinet door and put away the stool to hide what he has done. Instead, he dashes off to his play kitchen to start making the coffee.

Now, Peter knows how coffee is made.  
Definitely.  
Totally.  
Not a doubt about it.

But, he is pretty sure it involves hot stuff, and that is scary. Maybe he should just make iced coffee. Ice is cold. Cold is not nearly as scary as hot. So, Peter goes about scooping his play ice cubes into a cup and then dumps way too much coffee into the pitcher, before pouring in from his non-functional play water dispenser.

In the end, it is a lot of coffee grounds being dumped from a plastic pitcher into a plastic cup with plastic ice cubes.

Holding the cup at arm’s length, Peter studies his creation. It does not seem right. This is all solid, and it needs to be liquid.

Peter returns to the kitchen and steps up on the stool once more. It is a little tricky with cup in hand, but he manages it, and only spills a little bit of the coffee grounds in the process. The boy brushes the coffee from the counter before turning on the faucet, filling his cup nearly all the way up. 

Now, it is liquid! Perfect!

Just as Peter is marvelling at his concoction, and frankly considering whether or not he should add a hot pink Minnie Mouse bendy straw, he heard footsteps approaching from behind. 

“Oh my god.”

Peter squeaks and flinches with surprise, but luckily he does not drop the cup in his hands. Instead, he remains sitting on the counter with his ‘drink’, frozen in place as he locks eyes with his Papa. For a second, Peter’s confidence falters, but then he remembers that he did this for Papa. So, he presents his drink proudly. 

“Coffee! For you, Papa!”

Papa stares down at the boy in shock. 

“Uh... coffee, huh? You sure about that, Petey-pie?” He asks slowly. Peter cocks his head.

“Uh huhhhhhh, made for you, Papa! And Dada, too. You share, kay? ‘m chef.”

Tony coos a little at his baby’s excitement, before lifting Peter down to the floor and taking the cup from Peter’s hands. 

“Stephen! Come in here, please!” He calls out. 

Yes, he has done it! After a bunch of trials and errors this morning, Peter has finally proved he is a big and well behaved boy. 

“Gonna see MJ, gonna see MJ...” Peter sings to himself softly, giggling under his breath. Tony is about to ask him what he is saying, but just then Stephen enters the kitchen. 

“He made us coffee.” Tony says, pointing to the cup of ‘coffee’ on the counter.

“I... I see that.” Stephen laughs. The man comes closer, tickling Peter’s tummy a little before taking the boy from his husband’s grip. 

“Thank you, baby, that was very sweet. You’re oh so considerate.” He coos. Peter smiles, graciously accepting a kiss on the nose as payment for his hard work, and snuggles up close with his Dada. “Now that you’re already making drinks, shall we start on your snack a bit early or? Are you hungry yet?” Stephen asks, rocking Peter gently in his arms. 

Peter is about to answer that he is not hungry yet, and that they should all play something together instead. But, then he hears pouring in the sink. The boy whips his head around to see Tony pouring out his coffee concoction and picking up the plastic ice cubes to rinse off. 

Peter is stunned. His Daddies lied to him?

The boy’s breath hitches as tears well up in his eyes. That was his hard work! Why did not Papa want to drink the coffee? He spent forever on that!

“Oh, shit. Okay, here’s paci.” Stephen mumbles, pulling Peter’s ‘emergency paci’ out of his breast pocket.

When the paci is pushed into his mouth, Peter blinks in confusion before shaking his head, spitting out the paci in the process so that it lands on the floor. 

“Nuuuu-huuuuu!” Peter wails and lifts his little hands to cover his eyes. Why did not Daddies drink his coffee? The boy has no clue why, and the Daddies are equally clueless as to why Peter is crying in the first place.

“Peter? Hey, come on, bubs. You know Daddies don’t like crying babies.” Stephen scolds in a gentle tone, hoping that Peter will cease his tears.

But the boy does not, and rather chooses to desperately thrash and point towards the sink where Tony has set his cup on the rack to dry and put the cubes on a washcloth atop the counter. This is just insult to injury. The boy thrashes in Stephen’s arms and continues to wail like the world is about to end. Sensing that the boy is upset for real, the Daddies share a look and go to stand next to one another so that they can both embrace Peter. 

“Shhh, baby, it’s okay. It’s okay. Just catch your breath. Daddies are here.” Tony soothes, although he still has no clue what Peter is crying about. But, they have to calm him down to find out, so that is what they will have to do.

Peter cries and cries for the next half hour, until his Daddies have resigned to laying down in their bed with him in between, receiving as many cuddles as possible as the sobs continue pouring out.

Peter is angry. He is angry and sad and fussy and nobody is listening to him even though he tried so hard to be a big boy. And despite his anger and sadness, this is exactly where he wants to be, squished between his two Daddies. Even the worst day with them in their house is a thousand times better than the best days at the Center. 

Peter quiets down and sniffles loudly. Stephen chuckles softly at the snotty sound and reaches over to grab a tissue from the bedside table. He prompts the boy to blow his nose and Peter caves in easily.  
“Is that better?” Stephen asks, wiping Peter’s nose and stroking his cheek gently.

Peter nods glumly.

“Dada?” He asks, trying to pull back from anymore tears as he solemnly fears the worst. “I not bad boy. Promise.” He speaks softly, reaching out to touch his Dada’s nose.

“Yeah, I know, baby.” Stephen replies immediately, a bit baffled by Peter’s statement. “Why do you say that?” 

“Am not lyin’! Am not!” 

“I know, I know.” Stephen assures, pulling Peter closer to his chest when the boy starts getting upset again. “Tell us what’s going on in your mind, baby.”

Peter pouts. Nobody is understanding him.

“Wan’- Wan’ MJ, Dada. P’ease. Her no go bye bye.” The boy babbles incoherently, too distraught to think through sentences at the moment.

“What about MJ? What do you mean, baby?” Stephen asks, still confused by the tiny pieces of information Peter is giving. The boy kicks his feet in frustration, so Tony rubs his back to sooth him. 

“It’s okay, buddy. Take your time explaining.” Tony says gently, kissing Peter’s temple.

“Dada say- Dada say- Dada- and- and Papa no dwink!” Peter fusses harshly, whining through the words as he pouts and shakes. 

Both Stephen and Tony frown softly. It takes another half hour to help Peter get his feelings and thoughts out, and for Daddies to understand. Then, it all makes a lot of sense suddenly. 

“You’ve been trying to be a big boy so that we’ll set up a playdate with you and MJ?” Tony finally summarises, and Peter nods furiously where he has got his face squished into Stephen’s chest. “And that’s why you made us coffee?” 

Peter nods again with a whimper.

“Oh, poor baby.” Tony coos.

Peter feels like a poor baby, he feels like he deserves many more kisses than he has gotten, but he knows better than to complain. Maybe, just maybe, his Daddies secretly agree.

Peter coughs and sniffles before attempting to speak again. 

“MJ, p’ease?”

“Yes, baby. We’ll go see MJ.” Stephen promises, kissing Peter’s forehead sweetly. 

In an instant, Peter relaxes in his Dada’s hold. That one sentence is enough to make him completely at ease, and forget about his mission, which was too grande for him to achieve anyway. Or, perhaps he misunderstood. Perhaps he does not need to dress himself nor make coffee. All he has to do is listen to Daddies, and everything will be okay.  
Perhaps, that has been the real mission all along.

Peter giggles softly, his worries forgotten due to the excitement of hearing that he can see his friend again. He sniffles again and cuddles up to Stephen once more. 

“Love you, Daddies!”

“We love you, too, baby boy.”

Due to his heavy cry and upset, Peter quickly falls asleep after the love declarations. The Daddies chuckle fondly, and tuck Peter in together with a blanket and a bunch of kisses. While Peter sleeps, they go call Nat and Pepper to arrange the promised playdate with MJ. Peter will be delighted when he hears about it after his nap.

And he is, unsurprisingly, ecstatic. The boy runs circles around the house and yelps and giggles, even making his Daddies coffee again as a thank you. This time, though, he let Papa help. Thank God.

A few days later, Peter goes to the park with his Daddies to meet up MJ and her Mommies. Peter wants that day to be special, so he picks out his coolest outfit possible, which includes camouflage overalls and a pale green new hoodie. MJ seems just as excited about the playdate, as she has dressed in brand new jeans and a pink jacket with a butterfly on the back. The two Littles play to their hearts’ content at the park for hours, chasing one another in games of tag, exploring the park and its’ wildlife and of course take the occasional break on their caregivers’ laps.

As the afternoon draws to a close and the sun starts to set, the babies are thoroughly exhausted from their big day. The Daddies and Mommies exchange their goodbyes while their babies doze off in their arms. Peter might be the most sleepy out of the two Littles, and is all cuddled up on his Papa’s hip, pacifier bobbing steadily in between his lips. 

Just before his Papa is about to put him in his carseat though, he holds onto his shoulder with one hand and then takes out the paci with the other. 

“MJ ‘gain?” 

“Yes, you’ll see MJ again. Now, let’s get you in your seat-”

“And- am good boy?”

“Yes, baby. You’re the best boy there is.” 

The boy nods sleepily then, and let himself be put in the carseat without any trouble. Even before they hit the road again, Peter is dreaming about his next playdate with his best friend MJ.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you sm for reading! What do you guys think of this three part scene? Is Peter making as much progress as you would hope? And his Daddies' methods? We'd love to hear what you think c:  
> Laney and I don’t have any immediate plans for more chapters, but we do write often so I’m going to leave this story open for when we decide to update again. Make sure to subscribe to be notified of updates! :3


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